கலிபோர்னியா கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் பெடோபைல் வழக்கு

கலிபோர்னியா பிரஸ்னோவை சேர்ந்த கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் ஒரு சிறுவரை 20 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னர் பாலுறவு பலாத்காரம் செய்ததை இப்போது ஆர்பிட்ரேஷனுக்கு செல்கிறது.

முன்பு இதே கேஸ் விசாரணைக்கு வந்தபோது அந்த சிறுவரை இந்த கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் பலாத்காரம் செய்தார் என்று ஜூரி தீர்ப்பளித்தது.

இப்போது இருபக்கத்தினரும் கோர்ட்டுக்கு வெளியே தீர்த்துக்கொள்ள முடிவு செய்திருக்கிறார்கள்.

“A smart move”
Both sides in Fresno sex-abuse case agree to private arbitration instead of jury trial

Published: May 12, 2007

The trial of a Fresno priest accused of sexually molesting a young man more than 20 years ago was scheduled to go to trial on May 14, but both sides have agreed instead to have the case decided by binding arbitration.

Binding arbitration, instead of a full court trial with jury, is a “smart move,” said Fresno civil litigation attorney, Warren Paboojian, though, he said, he wouldn’t generally resort to it if he had a strong case. But, "if the plaintiffs have a crappy case, then you might want to go with arbitration, but if you have a sexy case, then you want the jurors to hear it," the attorney told the April 5 Fresno Bee.

What this means in the case of the Fresno diocesan priest, Father Eric Swearingen, is uncertain. In 2002, Army Special Forces Sgt. Juan Rocha accused the priest of molesting him in the mid-‘80s at parishes in Bakersfield and Fresno. Rocha claims that memories of the alleged abuse surfaced only in 2002. He brought criminal charges against Swearingen, which the Fresno County district attorney’s office dismissed for lack of evidence. Rocha then filed civil charges against the Fresno diocese.

In December, a judge declared a mistrial when a jury voted 9-3 in favor of Rocha but deadlocked 5-7 on whether the diocese knew or could have known about the alleged abuse. Rocha testified that Swearingen allowed him to sleep overnight at the rectory and there abused him. The diocese has not denied that Rocha spent nights at the rectory. Swearingen, said diocesan lawyer Carey Johnson, knew nothing of a 1929 diocesan policy forbidding laymen from staying in rectories.

During the December trial, Rocha offered the diocese a one-dollar settlement if it agreed to defrock Swearingen. Bishop John Steinbock, who insists on Swearingen’s innocence, refused.

Judge Donald Black had set a retrial of the case for May 14. But on May 4, lawyers from both sides agreed to arbitration rather than a jury trial. The arbitration process involves the full panoply of a jury trial but substitutes a retired judge for the jury. And unlike a jury trial, arbitration proceedings are not open to the public. The date of the process and who will preside have not yet been divulged.

Swearingen, pastor of Holy Spirit parish in Woodward Park, took a leave of absence during the December trial but returned after it ended.

Swearingen “is a fine and dedicated priest and no other complaints have ever been received against him,” said Bishop Steinbock in 2002, when Rocha’s charges against the priest surfaced.