For Immediate Release- January 5, 2004
Please Contact Attorney Ron Bamieh at (805)643-5555, partner with the law firm of Bamieh & Erickson, PLC

Former Catholic Altar Boy Files Sex-Abuse Lawsuit

David V. Garcia of Camarillo who was molested by a former Ventura County Catholic priest in the 1970s filed a lawsuit today to seek justice. The suit was filed in Ventura County Superior Court by the Ventura law firm of Bamieh & Erickson on December 29, 2003.   This lawsuit is the second suit filed by Bamieh & Erickson against the same priest.

The victim was an altar boy and attended church at St. Mary Magdalen parish in Camarillo. The victim is now 43.

His abuser was the head priest assigned to this church. The sexual abuse occurred between 1971 and 1973, when Mr. Garcia was the victim was 11 to 13 years old.

The lawsuit alleges that in the middle to late 1960's, the priest was assigned to the St. Rose of Lima Church in Maywood, California, and he allegedly sexually abused two young boys there.

In 1971, this priest was then transferred to St. Mary Magdalen in Camarillo, where he remained for several years and abused John F. Doe and John R. Doe. During the same period of time, the lawsuit alleges that the priest abused Mr. Garcia.  The lawsuit alleges that the priest later worked as a minister at St. John's Hospital in Camarillo, where he was accused of sexually molesting several other young boys.

The Ventura County District Attorney's Office in April of this year filed 14 felony sexual-abuse criminal charges against this priest, in case numbers 2003 010088, and 2003 013245. However, because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision barring criminal prosecutions due to the statute of limitations, the District Attorney's Office was forced to drop these cases and the defendant was freed from jail after serving several months.

The civil lawsuit filed today alleges that the Archdiocese knew or should have known that the priest was abusing young boys but did nothing to stop the abuse.

The Archdiocese was made aware of the abuse by this priest at least by the early 1990s but there is no evidence the Archdiocese investigated the complaints of abuse. Instead, the priest was sent to St. Luke's, a treatment center for wayward priests, in Maryland for "evaluation."  There is no evidence that the Archdiocese reported the complaints of sexual abuse to any law enforcement agency. The priest was kept on the Archdiocese payroll at least until 2002.

The victim hoped to seek justice only through the criminal system.  However, with the District Attorney no longer able to prosecute this priest, a civil remedy is the only avenue left for Mr. Garcia.

Because of rules imposed by the California Legislature, the defendants in this lawsuit are not permitted to be referred to by name until authorized by a Superior Court judge. The defendants named are:  Doe Archdiocese, Doe Supervisor and Father John Doe.

"It is clear that this priest's sexual assaults on young boys were consistent and continuing, unfortunately so was the Church's cover up.  The true tragedy for these victims is that the crimes against them could have been prevented if those aware and knowledgeable of the danger took a few reasonable steps to protect the children entrusted to them," Attorney Ron Bamieh said.

Attorney Philip Erickson added, "When the Archdiocese officially learned of the acts committed by this priest, it did nothing except send him for 'evaluation'.  If an employee of any organization has been accused of a crime, the organization should report the crime to law enforcement, investigate the claims and discharge the perpetrator.  Instead, the Archdiocese kept this priest on its payroll and pretended like nothing happened."