LOS ANGELES _ The California attorney general's office will review how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has handled sexual abuse allegations, including whether it followed mandatory reporting requirements to law enforcement, according to a letter reviewed by The Times.
The letter, dated Thursday, from Attorney General Xavier Becerra to Archbishop Jose Gomez, requests that church officials preserve an array of documents related to clergy abuse allegations.
It's unclear whether Becerra's office is also seeking records from other California dioceses. But one source told The Times that other dioceses were being contacted by the attorney general.
Officials from the archdiocese and the attorney general's office could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
"The California Department of Justice is conducting a review of your archdiocese's handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving children, including whether your archdiocese has adequately reported allegations of sexual misconduct, as required under California's Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act," the letter stated.
For nearly two decades, the archdiocese has been roiled by allegations that onetime church leaders mishandled clergy abuse cases, sometimes moving clergy suspected of wrongdoing to other parishes rather than punishing them and informing law enforcement.
The L.A. Archdiocese paid a record $740 million in various settlements to victims and had pledged to better protect its church members. Gomez succeeded longtime Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who faced criticism for his handling of the scandal. In the wake of the settlement, the church imposed a series of reforms.
Other state attorneys general have also launched investigations into their Catholic churches in the wake of a series of new abuse scandals in the last year, including a Pennsylvania report that revealed a decades-long cover-up of child sex abuse involving more than 1,000 victims and hundreds of clergy.
An Illinois attorney general's report released in December found that the number of Catholic clergy accused of sexual abuse in that state was much higher than previously acknowledged. The report found 690 clergy accused, although church officials had publicly identified only 185 with credible allegations against them.
Churches across the nation and California responded by releasing previously undisclosed names of clergy accused of abuse.
Other states' attorneys general have requested or subpoenaed dioceses' records on clergy, but Becerra's request goes further, also asking for records about cases involving non-clergy personnel, such as volunteers and staffers. According to the letter, Becerra is seeking records from the archdiocese, including:
_ All allegations of sexual misconduct toward minors that the archdiocese received from 1996 to the present, regardless of when the alleged misconduct took place.
_ Any actions taken from 1996 to the present against any individual within the purview of the archdiocese who was accused of sexual misconduct toward a minor or who failed to report allegations of sexual abuse to appropriate law enforcement authorities.
_ Individuals who have been the subject of any allegation of sexual misconduct toward a minor who are still active in the ministry.
_ All reports of alleged sexual misconduct toward a minor filed by the archdiocese in compliance with the law from 1996 to the present.
_ For any individual accused of sexual molestation of a minor, any and all files maintained by the archdiocese about the individual, including "secret archives," personnel files, litigation files, victim or review board files.
_ Any and all policies, procedures, documents or communications regarding the archdiocese's compliance with the laws.
In November, Becerra asked people who believe they had been sexually abused by clergy members in California to come forward.
"In light of the news surrounding the sexual abuse of children by members of clergy or religious organizations across the country, the Department of Justice is gathering information from the public regarding complaints of this nature in California," he said in a statement at the time.
In December, the L.A. archdiocese updated its list of clergy accused of molesting children for the first time in a decade.
Of the 54 names previously undisclosed by L.A. church leaders, the vast majority were clergy members accused of wrongdoing before 2008, the last time the archdiocese updated the list. At least 27 are dead.
The Times reported in December that the archdiocese knew for at least 13 years that one of its bishops had been accused of sexual abuse at a parish but had not informed the public until December, despite repeated pledges to disclose such information.
Archdiocese officials have said the church has made great strides to prevent abuse and to work with law enforcement.
But in April, the L.A. archdiocese announced a record $8-million settlement to a former Catholic school student, now 18, who was molested by a coach. It was the largest individual settlement by the local church in a sex abuse case. Her attorney said concerns about the teacher's conduct were ignored.
