.
By Kay Ebeling
City of Angels in Santa Barbara
Fr. Van Handel felt he was “a failure with nothing to live for” soon after news broke that he molested choir boys, his therapist said. Facing justice, the pedophile priest wrote out a history of his sex life and gave it to the Court while requesting probation, answering questions about what is wrong inside the Church, inadvertently, and the role of priests that led to this nationwide epidemic of pedophilia.
His sexual outpouring did not earn the felon priest probation, he was sentenced to 8 years, served four in prison, four on parole, and since his release has lived close to his therapists outside Santa Cruz. Today at City of Angels we look at the state of Van Handel’s mind between arrest and sentencing and how his cooperation got his sexual autobiography into the public record.
He wanted to tell it to the world
The arresting officer wrote, “Van Handel made it clear he wanted full disclosure of his acting-out history.” His therapist wrote: “Full disclosures to the best of his ability to recall has a therapeutic effect which outweighs the risk factor associated with the actual sentencing.”
As we read through his “sexual autobiography” and the Probation Report, an image appears of a nervous priest who knows in 1994 that any day he will be named as one of the pedophiles at St. Anthony’s. Once accused, Van Handel jets off to St. Luke’s in Maryland where he spends thirteen months doing a seven-month program with 32 other sexually charged priests
Van Handel watches as more news is released about St. Anthony’s seminary in Santa Barbara. Before his sentencing, I sense almost Stockholm Syndrome in the way Van Handel agrees to cooperate with the police, telling them everything, almost like this sick priest saw in the detectives the father confessors he’d always been looking for in the Church.
Whatever his motivation for writing out the 27-page single space typed document, so much is revealed in it about life behind the cloistered doors of the seminary, the secretiveness, the totally inexperienced adult men teaching boys about sexuality. We will write more about Van Handel’s strange mutation from a freshman who wouldn't dare touch his genitals to the choir director who rubbed and tickled the genitals of hundreds, picking freely from a steady stream of 8 to 14-year olds at his disposal.
By the way, we are not on a bounty hunt for the head of Van Handel on a stick. He is just one of six thousand, one of the perhaps ten thousand Catholic priests who turned out to be pedophiles ravaging children of parish families in the last sixty or so years in the USA, six thousand that we know of. Believe it or not, Van Handel’s crimes and just one more installment as the stories slowly come out about the pedophile epidemic in the Catholic Church.
Here, today, we're exploring what was going on in the mind of this perpetrator priest the weeks before his arrest as he waited for the “crisis to hit,” and the way his life changed after the arrest and conviction, including what I feel is pampering at treatment centers, especially when you compare the treatment this convicted pedophile priest gets to what was done to the lives of pedophile priests’ victims, and where many of us are today.
Many readers have queried, how did the sexual autobiography end up in the public record in the first place?
The arresting officer, Mike McGrew of the Santa Barbara Police Department, describes getting the sexual autobiography into evidence, in his report attached to the Probation Report:
“When I arrested Van Handel, I served a search warrant in his room at the St. Francis Retreat in San Juan Bautista, California. I recovered several pieces of evidence which included various correspondence, letters written by Van Handel, a diary, (January 1993 to March 1994) written by Van Handel, and an autobiography written by Van Handel.” Where “he describes his pedophile feelings and mentions ‘trust’ as a tool for his unlawful acts.
“Van Handel also describes the Santa Barbara Boys Choir as being ‘a constant supply of attractive little boys.’”
His therapist wrote: “Mr. Van Handel made it clear that he wanted full disclosure of his acting-out history as a step in controlling his pedophilic tendencies,” in a letter included in the Probation Report.
I see a state of panic developing in Van Handel during the months between his arrest and conviction.
The MSW continues that Van Handel, “said he fully recognized that his full and candid disclosures increased the risk of additional or maximum sentencing versus the possibility of parole and out-patient treatment. However, he feels full disclosures to the best of his ability to recall has a therapeutic effect which outweighs the risk factor associated with the actual sentencing."
Van Handel molested so many boys he couldn't keep them straight.
HERE IN HIS OWN WORDS:
What Happened the Weeks Before Van Handel was Sentenced that Led to His Releasing his Sexual Autobiography, for which we are grateful
(NOTE: As I'm typing this stuff, I INTERJECT IN PARENTHESES AND ALL CAPS WHAT COMES TO MY MIND IN THE PROCESS, and we try to open and close quotes so you can clearly see where I'm copy typing and where I'm going off on my own rant.)
After finishing his MA at UCSF in History in June of 1991
(WHAT A WASTE OF GOOD EDUCATION RESOURCES)
“I was asked to work in the Provincial office. I had been listless and unhappy, could not describe any job that would interest me, and was generally depressed. The Boys Choir hired a new director. I was replaced by another administrator in Santa Barbara, and with somewhat heavy heart moved to Berkeley.
“I worked in Oakland at our provincial office, mainly doing secretarial work. As I had nothing else I wanted to do, I was not dissatisfied, but clearly this would be a transition job.
“Sexually I was continuing to masturbate to images both of women and boys, and occasionally I would see FEMALE FRIEND in secret of course.
“The Year sort of bumped along taking me with it.
“In December I visited the choir in Santa Barbara, but already there were boys I had never met. I felt welcomed but estranged. There was a dispute going on about the new director, and I was drawn into the controversy. That was not pleasant.
“In April I joined some of my family for a 10K race in the Redwoods.
“Then in May the letter of intervention arrived.
“This was addressed to me with copies sent to several church officials, including the Provincial, confronting me with a molestation of perhaps ten years earlier.”
(VAN HANDEL DIDDLED SO MANY BOYS, HE CAN’T KEEP THEM ALL STRAIGHT)
“The people who had sent the letter had been my best friends. The tone of the letter was stern, but the writers tried to point out that by forcing me to get help they were not only protecting other boys, but helping me as well.
“Since this time they have become very hostile.
(I BET THAT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT)
“I sat down with my Provincial and a couple of good friends that same night and told them the accusations were true and that there were many other instances of similar behavior.”
(SEE HE SPENT MORE THAN A YEAR ANTICIPATING THIS MOMENT AND THEN STARTED POURING IT ALL OUT.)
“I was somewhat in shock, but I was not overly surprised that the secret was finally out.
“My confreres promised support and action, and a few days later I left for St. Luke’s Institute in Suitland, Maryland, near Washington D.C. There I was interviewed and tested in every way possible, including medical examinations and a brain scan.”
(HAS ANYONE SHOWED AS MUCH INTEREST IN THE EFFECTS OF PEDOPHILIA ON THE VICTIMS?)
“The brain scan was a fairly disturbing procedure, but the 32 clergy patients at the hospital (St. Luke’s is a psychiatric hospital) kept assuring me that I would make it.”
(HAS THE CHURCH EVER GOTTEN 32 VICTIMS TOGETHER IN GROUP THERAPY TO THIS KIND OF EXTENT?
Continued in Part 2 here:
Forgot to mention, this is Santa Barbara Story part 8, so what you go to from here is 8A... but who's counting?
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Pedophile Mind: In panic as his conviction for child molestation approached, the priest poured out his sexual history to give the Court
.
(Part 2: More from Sexual Autobiography of Franciscan Pedophile Priest, Robert Van Handel, actual Santa Barbara Story Part 8, Part 2)
Has anyone anywhere ever paid this much attention to the crime victims?
HAS ANYONE DONE RESEARCH ON WHAT THESE PRIESTS” CRIMES DID TO US?)
More:
“At the end of the week at St. Luke’s my provincial flew out and together we listened to the psychological and medical evaluation. At this point I felt devastated. The psychiatrist emphasized the seriousness of the problem, which he diagnosed as pedophilia, same sex non-exclusive, and recommended that I begin treatment as soon as possible. I remember one of the interviewing therapists reading a summary of my life history. I was asked if I wanted to say anything.
“In an emotional outburst I said, ‘I don't know how you can say those things about my father. He’s a very good man!
“Trying to calm me, she stated that she was only repeating information I had given her.
“It was decided that in ten days I would return as a patient.
“I felt convicted and sentenced.
“My depression became more acute. I just wanted to die. On the six hour flight back to San Francisco, I stared out the window and was silent.”
(I’M SORRY I HAVE TO INTERJECT HERE, DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT TUNNEL VISION:
“I FELT CONVICTED AND DEVASTATED, ALL THE WAY BACK ON THE FLIGHT TO SAN FRANCISCO”
Do you think they flew coach? What did he get to eat and drink from then all the way to the provincial palace where he continued to be well fed and tended)
More:
“St. Luke Institute was originally founded by a priest psychiatrist to treat alcoholic clergy. When it became clear that there was a need for treating sex addiction, the SLI adapted its program.
“It is well staffed and expensive. Generally the program lasts seven months, but I was there for thirteen months.”
(MAN, WHAT I COULD DO WITH THIRTEEN MONTHS OF IN HOUSE THERAPY.
or one month for that matter.
SEE WHY SURVIVORS ARE PISSED AT THE CHURCH?
None of us got treated anywhere near this good by anyone, anywhere.)
More:
“I had individual therapy twice a week, small group therapy, 8 men and a therapist, three times a week. Large groups twice a week, and then psychosocial and other plums thrown in at various times. There were also educational features and workshops on eating disorders, rational thinking, family dynamics, etc.
“Every night we went to a 12-step meeting. On weekends one could get permission to go into Washington for the day.
“I became an expert tour guide of the Smithsonian Museum.”
(DO TOURISTS IN D.C. HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW THESE GUYS ARE WANDERING AROUND THE SMITHSONIAN? Why are they wandering around the Smithsonian?)
More:
“I started the St. Luke’s program feeling very miserable and quite sure that if anyone should find out what I had done, I would be ostracized.
“So I tried to say as little as possible. I spent a lot of time reading novels.”
BLAH-BLAH-BLAH LINES AND LINES one long paragraph of SELF INVOLVED NAVEL GAZING Some quick cuts:)
“Afterwards the other patients greeted me with hugs.”
“I just sobbed.”
“Much less often did I slip into this extreme self-pity.”
(AS A SURVIVOR, I CRIED EVERY DAY FROM 2006 TO 2009, EVERY DAY FOR THREE YEARS straight, it’s finally over by the way, DID PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE
I've never gotten any help from the Church. )
More:
“I improved and became more active in the program.”
“I felt safe because of the support of the institute.”
“I started taking Depo-Provera injections. Anti-depressants.
“I had many crises as my conduct in Santa Barbara became more public, but from each crisis, I recovered.”
“The major crisis was when I was told that I had been on the front page of the Santa Barbara paper. And that one of the victims had been on television saying what I had done to him.
“I fell apart.
“Actually I went into a kind of trance. I just started at a blank wall and didn't hear anything. My friends became alarmed and called the duty nurse. Later my therapist asked me to please try not to have a crisis at 10:30 PM on a Saturday night.”
(CAN’T HELP BUT STOP HERE AND THINK OF THE LAST TIME I WAS HOSPITALIZED L.A. County USC General Hospital sent me to one of their psych places as I was going nuts … I didn't see a doctor and they would not release me for six days. THEN MD GOT BACK FROM VACATION, AND ALL HE DID WAS RELEASE ME, with bus fare home. I never got any treatment at all the whole time.
Starting this blog kept me from going insane.
Myself and many other of the victims have gotten no help from the Church )
More:
“Connected with my public notoriety was what the church alls ‘public scandal’
“As a result my Provincial told me that I could not again function as a Catholic priest.
“Although I knew this was coming, I was, and still am, devastated.
“When I realized that my case was becoming public, I decided that I needed to tell my parents about the sexual acting out, about the molestations, and also about the women. My mother was in stunned silence. What happened next says a lot about my family. BLACKED OUT sat with my mother who kept muttering that she couldn't understand how I could do such things. Weren’t priests given special graces so that they had no sexual feelings? What had gone wrong.
(HUH? WEREN’T PRIESTS GIVEN SPECIAL GRACES SO THAT THEY HAD NO SEXUAL FEELINGS?
Is that the Pap you guys have been believing all these years?
NO WONDER THIS HAPPENED.
Plus look at this hyper tunnel vision over-Catholicized reaction of his father here:)
More:
“My dad marched into his room and said, ‘I’m going to the store, does anyone need anything from Safeway?’ My sister asked if he had understood what I had said. Dad said, ‘You can’t do anything about that, it’s all in God’s hands.’ Out to Safeway he went.”
(OKAY, I gotta say this, to me this is very revealing.
AND WHAT A COP OUT. You don’t have to feel anything, be responsible, take actions to make up for my wrongs, you just give put it all in God’s hands.
DO YOU REALLY THINK GOD WANTS YOUR PEDOPHILE SON, NO REPAIRS MADE? I CAN’T HELP FEELING this misplaced mercy is the main reason all these guys got away with pedophilia on the parish children for so long, and if religious people want to just give the problem to God, pedophiles and will probably get away with it among your priests again.
HONEST, I THINK GOD WOULD BE ANGRY IF YOU JUST LEFT THIS PROBLEM SIT IDLE. And he just might smite the whole human race, considering how disgusted as he could get.
Human beings created these crimes and the environment they thrived in.
Humans have to stop turning the other way and take responsibility, change the things in the church that allowed this behavior to thrive,
BUT THIS ATTITUDE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING, just turn it over to God? Not only are you thoughtlessly re-victimizing the victims, but Jesus himself is probably turning over in his grave.)
More:
“And my therapist said, ‘the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.’”
(NO, FATHER ROBERT, YOU DON'T GET TO PASS THE BUCK ON TO SOMEONE ELSE, LIKE YOUR DAD)
“After seven months I graduated from the main program, (at St. Luke’s) but all concerned agreed that in many ways I had only just scratched the surface of my search for self understanding.
(THIS GUY HAS TOO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS, make him get a job, and support himself.)
“Things in Santa Barbara were still hot and I was in no rush to jump into the caldron.”
AFTER HE LEFT ST. LUKE’S.
“Arranged to meet with a therapist in San Jose.”
“I left St. Luke’s frightened of what lay before me but pleased with the work I had done there.
“Upon viewing my old room at Berkeley, I was assigned A forensic psychologist, who told me I would get group therapy for child molesters instead of individual.”
(I WONDER IF THEY SERVE COOKIES)
“I stared in disbelief.
“I told Tom that without a therapist I would self destruct, I wouldn't make it. In my distress I felt I was being set up to fail, a feeling that has arisen in various situations since.
“As I found out more about Pacific Treatment Center, I developed reasons why I should not be involved.
“Then they said I could have my individual therapist as long as he was in my small group. So I agreed to try PTA.
*****************
*(Reading these docs, it appears Robert Van Handel was in a state of panicked penance when he allowed the Court to introduce the memoir into public record, The “sexual autobiography” reveals so much to this reader about the inner workings of the Catholic Church, the environment that allowed this epidemic to flourish.)
(Probably writing the Sexual Autobiography is the best thing Fr. Robert Van Handel ever did in his life.)
Part 1 is here
(Actually this is Santa Barbara Story Part 9, part 2, but who can keep track of all this?)
(Part 2: More from Sexual Autobiography of Franciscan Pedophile Priest, Robert Van Handel, actual Santa Barbara Story Part 8, Part 2)
Has anyone anywhere ever paid this much attention to the crime victims?
HAS ANYONE DONE RESEARCH ON WHAT THESE PRIESTS” CRIMES DID TO US?)
More:
“At the end of the week at St. Luke’s my provincial flew out and together we listened to the psychological and medical evaluation. At this point I felt devastated. The psychiatrist emphasized the seriousness of the problem, which he diagnosed as pedophilia, same sex non-exclusive, and recommended that I begin treatment as soon as possible. I remember one of the interviewing therapists reading a summary of my life history. I was asked if I wanted to say anything.
“In an emotional outburst I said, ‘I don't know how you can say those things about my father. He’s a very good man!
“Trying to calm me, she stated that she was only repeating information I had given her.
“It was decided that in ten days I would return as a patient.
“I felt convicted and sentenced.
“My depression became more acute. I just wanted to die. On the six hour flight back to San Francisco, I stared out the window and was silent.”
(I’M SORRY I HAVE TO INTERJECT HERE, DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT TUNNEL VISION:
“I FELT CONVICTED AND DEVASTATED, ALL THE WAY BACK ON THE FLIGHT TO SAN FRANCISCO”
Do you think they flew coach? What did he get to eat and drink from then all the way to the provincial palace where he continued to be well fed and tended)
More:
“St. Luke Institute was originally founded by a priest psychiatrist to treat alcoholic clergy. When it became clear that there was a need for treating sex addiction, the SLI adapted its program.
“It is well staffed and expensive. Generally the program lasts seven months, but I was there for thirteen months.”
(MAN, WHAT I COULD DO WITH THIRTEEN MONTHS OF IN HOUSE THERAPY.
or one month for that matter.
SEE WHY SURVIVORS ARE PISSED AT THE CHURCH?
None of us got treated anywhere near this good by anyone, anywhere.)
More:
“I had individual therapy twice a week, small group therapy, 8 men and a therapist, three times a week. Large groups twice a week, and then psychosocial and other plums thrown in at various times. There were also educational features and workshops on eating disorders, rational thinking, family dynamics, etc.
“Every night we went to a 12-step meeting. On weekends one could get permission to go into Washington for the day.
“I became an expert tour guide of the Smithsonian Museum.”
(DO TOURISTS IN D.C. HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW THESE GUYS ARE WANDERING AROUND THE SMITHSONIAN? Why are they wandering around the Smithsonian?)
More:
“I started the St. Luke’s program feeling very miserable and quite sure that if anyone should find out what I had done, I would be ostracized.
“So I tried to say as little as possible. I spent a lot of time reading novels.”
BLAH-BLAH-BLAH LINES AND LINES one long paragraph of SELF INVOLVED NAVEL GAZING Some quick cuts:)
“Afterwards the other patients greeted me with hugs.”
“I just sobbed.”
“Much less often did I slip into this extreme self-pity.”
(AS A SURVIVOR, I CRIED EVERY DAY FROM 2006 TO 2009, EVERY DAY FOR THREE YEARS straight, it’s finally over by the way, DID PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE
I've never gotten any help from the Church. )
More:
“I improved and became more active in the program.”
“I felt safe because of the support of the institute.”
“I started taking Depo-Provera injections. Anti-depressants.
“I had many crises as my conduct in Santa Barbara became more public, but from each crisis, I recovered.”
“The major crisis was when I was told that I had been on the front page of the Santa Barbara paper. And that one of the victims had been on television saying what I had done to him.
“I fell apart.
“Actually I went into a kind of trance. I just started at a blank wall and didn't hear anything. My friends became alarmed and called the duty nurse. Later my therapist asked me to please try not to have a crisis at 10:30 PM on a Saturday night.”
(CAN’T HELP BUT STOP HERE AND THINK OF THE LAST TIME I WAS HOSPITALIZED L.A. County USC General Hospital sent me to one of their psych places as I was going nuts … I didn't see a doctor and they would not release me for six days. THEN MD GOT BACK FROM VACATION, AND ALL HE DID WAS RELEASE ME, with bus fare home. I never got any treatment at all the whole time.
Starting this blog kept me from going insane.
Myself and many other of the victims have gotten no help from the Church )
More:
“Connected with my public notoriety was what the church alls ‘public scandal’
“As a result my Provincial told me that I could not again function as a Catholic priest.
“Although I knew this was coming, I was, and still am, devastated.
“When I realized that my case was becoming public, I decided that I needed to tell my parents about the sexual acting out, about the molestations, and also about the women. My mother was in stunned silence. What happened next says a lot about my family. BLACKED OUT sat with my mother who kept muttering that she couldn't understand how I could do such things. Weren’t priests given special graces so that they had no sexual feelings? What had gone wrong.
(HUH? WEREN’T PRIESTS GIVEN SPECIAL GRACES SO THAT THEY HAD NO SEXUAL FEELINGS?
Is that the Pap you guys have been believing all these years?
NO WONDER THIS HAPPENED.
Plus look at this hyper tunnel vision over-Catholicized reaction of his father here:)
More:
“My dad marched into his room and said, ‘I’m going to the store, does anyone need anything from Safeway?’ My sister asked if he had understood what I had said. Dad said, ‘You can’t do anything about that, it’s all in God’s hands.’ Out to Safeway he went.”
(OKAY, I gotta say this, to me this is very revealing.
AND WHAT A COP OUT. You don’t have to feel anything, be responsible, take actions to make up for my wrongs, you just give put it all in God’s hands.
DO YOU REALLY THINK GOD WANTS YOUR PEDOPHILE SON, NO REPAIRS MADE? I CAN’T HELP FEELING this misplaced mercy is the main reason all these guys got away with pedophilia on the parish children for so long, and if religious people want to just give the problem to God, pedophiles and will probably get away with it among your priests again.
HONEST, I THINK GOD WOULD BE ANGRY IF YOU JUST LEFT THIS PROBLEM SIT IDLE. And he just might smite the whole human race, considering how disgusted as he could get.
Human beings created these crimes and the environment they thrived in.
Humans have to stop turning the other way and take responsibility, change the things in the church that allowed this behavior to thrive,
BUT THIS ATTITUDE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING, just turn it over to God? Not only are you thoughtlessly re-victimizing the victims, but Jesus himself is probably turning over in his grave.)
More:
“And my therapist said, ‘the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.’”
(NO, FATHER ROBERT, YOU DON'T GET TO PASS THE BUCK ON TO SOMEONE ELSE, LIKE YOUR DAD)
“After seven months I graduated from the main program, (at St. Luke’s) but all concerned agreed that in many ways I had only just scratched the surface of my search for self understanding.
(THIS GUY HAS TOO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS, make him get a job, and support himself.)
“Things in Santa Barbara were still hot and I was in no rush to jump into the caldron.”
AFTER HE LEFT ST. LUKE’S.
“Arranged to meet with a therapist in San Jose.”
“I left St. Luke’s frightened of what lay before me but pleased with the work I had done there.
“Upon viewing my old room at Berkeley, I was assigned A forensic psychologist, who told me I would get group therapy for child molesters instead of individual.”
(I WONDER IF THEY SERVE COOKIES)
“I stared in disbelief.
“I told Tom that without a therapist I would self destruct, I wouldn't make it. In my distress I felt I was being set up to fail, a feeling that has arisen in various situations since.
“As I found out more about Pacific Treatment Center, I developed reasons why I should not be involved.
“Then they said I could have my individual therapist as long as he was in my small group. So I agreed to try PTA.
*****************
*(Reading these docs, it appears Robert Van Handel was in a state of panicked penance when he allowed the Court to introduce the memoir into public record, The “sexual autobiography” reveals so much to this reader about the inner workings of the Catholic Church, the environment that allowed this epidemic to flourish.)
(Probably writing the Sexual Autobiography is the best thing Fr. Robert Van Handel ever did in his life.)
Part 1 is here
(Actually this is Santa Barbara Story Part 9, part 2, but who can keep track of all this?)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Preview: Molestation MO passed from generation to generation in seminary
.
Story in Construction:
Rememeber this story? Father Robert Van Handel perpetrated "medical exams" of teenage boys at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara in the 1970s. Young seminary student Robert Van Handel was on the receiving end of a very similar exam in about 1962. Molestatio MO's passed from one generation of priests to another at the Santa Barbara boys high school, that blessedly closed June 1987... Here is story of Van Handel's crime:
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
The Franciscan grabbed the freshman by the testicles and instructed the boy to cough as if it were a hernia exam. Just another day of Seminary Life.
Franciscan friars with no medical training tested boys for "undescended testacles" at St. Anthony's high school seminary in the 1960s and '70s, as revealed in a new lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara last month and reported here in Part 4 of the Santa Barbara Story November 2009 here at City of Angels. Soon after the testicle exam, an assault by a group of unruly Franciscan friars fills out the plaintiff's first year of high school, apparently just another part of life at the seminary. The legal documents in pedophile priest rape episodes again speak for themselves. Here are more direct quotes from: First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Case Number 1338070 filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court November 3, 2009. Assault During a Physical Exam in the School Infirmary, from First Amended Complaint Case #1338070: "Although initially thrilled to be so far away from his abusive home, the situation for Plaintiff at St. Anthony’s degenerated quickly. Specifically, within a month or two of school starting Plaintiff was called to the infirmary. Upon arriving Plaintiff observed notorious perpetrator Father Robert Van Handel sitting near an infirmary bed, along with another Franciscan he did not recognize. Van Handel then informed Plaintiff he was there 'for a check-up.'"Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, this was a fraudulent misrepresentation as the Franciscans have never had any agents qualified to conduct medical exams, much less any such agents assigned to St. Anthony’s [seminary in Santa Barbara]. To the contrary, when a serious medical problem arose with a student, the Franciscans either called Paul Munch MD, or took the ill student to the hospital....
Story in Construction:
Rememeber this story? Father Robert Van Handel perpetrated "medical exams" of teenage boys at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara in the 1970s. Young seminary student Robert Van Handel was on the receiving end of a very similar exam in about 1962. Molestatio MO's passed from one generation of priests to another at the Santa Barbara boys high school, that blessedly closed June 1987... Here is story of Van Handel's crime:
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
The Franciscan grabbed the freshman by the testicles and instructed the boy to cough as if it were a hernia exam. Just another day of Seminary Life.
Franciscan friars with no medical training tested boys for "undescended testacles" at St. Anthony's high school seminary in the 1960s and '70s, as revealed in a new lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara last month and reported here in Part 4 of the Santa Barbara Story November 2009 here at City of Angels. Soon after the testicle exam, an assault by a group of unruly Franciscan friars fills out the plaintiff's first year of high school, apparently just another part of life at the seminary. The legal documents in pedophile priest rape episodes again speak for themselves. Here are more direct quotes from: First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Case Number 1338070 filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court November 3, 2009. Assault During a Physical Exam in the School Infirmary, from First Amended Complaint Case #1338070: "Although initially thrilled to be so far away from his abusive home, the situation for Plaintiff at St. Anthony’s degenerated quickly. Specifically, within a month or two of school starting Plaintiff was called to the infirmary. Upon arriving Plaintiff observed notorious perpetrator Father Robert Van Handel sitting near an infirmary bed, along with another Franciscan he did not recognize. Van Handel then informed Plaintiff he was there 'for a check-up.'"Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, this was a fraudulent misrepresentation as the Franciscans have never had any agents qualified to conduct medical exams, much less any such agents assigned to St. Anthony’s [seminary in Santa Barbara]. To the contrary, when a serious medical problem arose with a student, the Franciscans either called Paul Munch MD, or took the ill student to the hospital....
Church using same sound byte for 20 years, responding to allegations of pedophile priests
.
By Kay Ebeling
Yesterday Boston bishops responded to news that predator priests went back and forth between Ireland and the United States saying the Archdiocese is "not aware of accusations," plus "religious order priests are not the responsibility of the Archdiocese." Those words sound familiar. They are the same phrases every archdiocese, diocese, and religious order has used since 1992 in response to pedophile priest accusations: "We didn't know it was going on and besides, it's those guys over there that did it, not us." You'd think the Church would learn.
As the truth about the Pedophile Epidemic in the Catholic Church continues to emerge, it's amazing to watch the bishops continue to think the public only reads Church press releases, not the truth.
From reports today: The Boston Archdiocese said it was "not aware of any accusations having been made against the priests from Ireland." Terrence Donilon, Boston Archdiocese spokesman, said January 27, 2009, that the archdiocese was "not in a position to comment on an investigation involving a religious order priest."
News Stories about the Boston-Ireland Pedophile Priest Passageway here:
Archdiocese admits tie to 3 in Irish scandal
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff /
January 28, 2010
The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has announced that three Irish priests accused of sexually molesting children had at one point worked in Massachusetts, tying the local church to the sex abuse scandal roiling Ireland.
and HERE:
FROM WBUR:
Boston Archdiocese Releases More Information On Abusive Priests
By DEBORAH BECKER
Published January 27, 2010
BOSTON — The Boston Archdiocese is releasing more information about three abusive priests with ties to Ireland who worked in Boston. The archdiocese says the three men were never accused of abuse before or while they worked here.
Boston Archdiocese admits Irish sex abuse priests worked in its parishes
MASSACHUSETTS/IRELAND
Irish Central
By KELLY FINCHAM, IrishCentral.com Editor
The Boston Archdiocese has admitted for the first time that Irish sex abuse priests worked in its diocese.
The priests, named as Brendan Smyth, Dennis Murphy and Joseph Maguire, were transferred from Ireland to the U.S. in what critics say was little more than an attempt to insulate the priests from scrutiny and possible prosecution....
City of Angels Lady is once again buried in raw reality video at her "paid job" so more extensive posts to come as the work flow ebbs again...
.
ANOTHER ONE:
Confirmed: Priests accused of abuse in Ireland spent time in Boston
BOSTON (MA)NECN
[with video]
(NECN: Ally Donnelly, Boston, Mass.) - Officials with the Boston Archdiocese say three Irish priests accused of sexually abusing children had served within the Archdiocese. Victims advocates say the church is not living up to its promise to be more transparent.
(think this headline size looks better?)
I highly recommend survivors get blogs, start one out of every city, then go to Court, get the documents from cases in your town, and scan them and post them like I do.
It's all public information when it's in the Courthouse archives, it belongs to us, but we have to put in an effort to get them.
Docs at LA Superior Court cost fifty cents a page, please click our PayPal button.
By Kay Ebeling
Yesterday Boston bishops responded to news that predator priests went back and forth between Ireland and the United States saying the Archdiocese is "not aware of accusations," plus "religious order priests are not the responsibility of the Archdiocese." Those words sound familiar. They are the same phrases every archdiocese, diocese, and religious order has used since 1992 in response to pedophile priest accusations: "We didn't know it was going on and besides, it's those guys over there that did it, not us." You'd think the Church would learn.
As the truth about the Pedophile Epidemic in the Catholic Church continues to emerge, it's amazing to watch the bishops continue to think the public only reads Church press releases, not the truth.
From reports today: The Boston Archdiocese said it was "not aware of any accusations having been made against the priests from Ireland." Terrence Donilon, Boston Archdiocese spokesman, said January 27, 2009, that the archdiocese was "not in a position to comment on an investigation involving a religious order priest."
News Stories about the Boston-Ireland Pedophile Priest Passageway here:
Archdiocese admits tie to 3 in Irish scandal
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff /
January 28, 2010
The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has announced that three Irish priests accused of sexually molesting children had at one point worked in Massachusetts, tying the local church to the sex abuse scandal roiling Ireland.
and HERE:
FROM WBUR:
Boston Archdiocese Releases More Information On Abusive Priests
By DEBORAH BECKER
Published January 27, 2010
BOSTON — The Boston Archdiocese is releasing more information about three abusive priests with ties to Ireland who worked in Boston. The archdiocese says the three men were never accused of abuse before or while they worked here.
Boston Archdiocese admits Irish sex abuse priests worked in its parishes
MASSACHUSETTS/IRELAND
Irish Central
By KELLY FINCHAM, IrishCentral.com Editor
The Boston Archdiocese has admitted for the first time that Irish sex abuse priests worked in its diocese.
The priests, named as Brendan Smyth, Dennis Murphy and Joseph Maguire, were transferred from Ireland to the U.S. in what critics say was little more than an attempt to insulate the priests from scrutiny and possible prosecution....
City of Angels Lady is once again buried in raw reality video at her "paid job" so more extensive posts to come as the work flow ebbs again...
.
ANOTHER ONE:
Confirmed: Priests accused of abuse in Ireland spent time in Boston
BOSTON (MA)NECN
[with video]
(NECN: Ally Donnelly, Boston, Mass.) - Officials with the Boston Archdiocese say three Irish priests accused of sexually abusing children had served within the Archdiocese. Victims advocates say the church is not living up to its promise to be more transparent.
(think this headline size looks better?)
I highly recommend survivors get blogs, start one out of every city, then go to Court, get the documents from cases in your town, and scan them and post them like I do.
It's all public information when it's in the Courthouse archives, it belongs to us, but we have to put in an effort to get them.
Docs at LA Superior Court cost fifty cents a page, please click our PayPal button.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Santa Barbara Boys Choir, 'constant supply of attractive little boys' for Franciscan pedophile priest (pages scanned here)
.
By Kay Ebeling
The Santa Barbara Boys Choir, "was clearly my choir, and the fulfillment of one of my fondest dreams," writes ex-priest Robert Van Handel in an attachment to his probation report called "Sexual Autobiography," from which we've scanned five pages here, for our readers to click-enlarge and read.
In his 9-point type single-spaced memoir, Van Handel (pictured above) admits, “Now I understand that [the choir] was also a constant supply of attractive little boys.”
It's likely Van Handel molested 150 eight- to twelve-year-olds as director of the Santa Barbara Boys Choir, according to a letter from his own therapist to the Court in 1994. (Read more in Santa Barbara Story Parts 9 and 10 coming soon.) On these pages about his time as a Franciscan in Santa Barbara running the boys' choir, the pedophile priest talks his way through years of serial felonies.
A lot of his words are offensive, people email me about R ratings, etc. We do not pull punches on purpose at City of Angels. If anyone is "offended," stop a moment and think. How offended are the people on the receiving end of these crimes? I'm sorry, but there was no editing going on when these priests raped us, so there is no editing going on here as I write about it.
This Sexual Autobiography of Father Robert van Handel is just one example of how bad the pedophile priest epidemic got in just one high school in one religious order in one city, the crimes of just one perpetrator. Multiply that by six thousand pedophile Catholic priests (as of January 2010 and still counting see bishopaccountability database) and you see how far reaching and extensive the crimes were.
Cash settlements to a fraction of the victims across the country has not resulted in justice. We need more investigation, law enforcement, and prosecution of the pedophile epidemic in the Catholic Church.
Also below we copy and pasted current information on the flagrant friar from the Megan's Law website for monitoring sex offenders in California.
From Probation Report submitted to Santa Barbara Superior Court Case #202042, five of the twenty-seven pages of Van Handel's Sexual Autobiography (Click to Enlarge and Read) (Don't open the second page scanned here, if you are easily offended):
From Megan's Law Website:
Robert Van Handel
Last Known Address:
15705 HWY 9,
GARAGE
BOULDER CREEK,
CALIFORNIA
County: SANTA CRUZ
Zip Code: 95006
Date of Birth: 04-02-1947
Sex: MALE
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 173
Eye Color: GREEN
Hair Color: GRAY
Ethnicity: WHITE
Offense: Code 288(a)
LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS
We Googled to see a satellite view.
Looks like Van Handel is living about 30 miles northeast of Santa Cruz, deep in the lush green rolling hills between San Jose and the Pacific Ocean. If it is a garage apartment, it's connected to a nice big house.
He was ordered by the Court to continue Sex Offender therapy. Van Handel was going to group and individual Sex Offender sessions at
Pacific Treatment Associates in Santa Cruz,
Hopefully they are keeping an eye on him now.
MORE
FROM THE PROBATION REPORT
The arresting officer explains how the Sexual Autobiography of Fr. Robert Van Handel came into the record:
"Upon being informed that a copy of his sexual history which he produced for a therapist of his at Pacific Treatment Center had been obtained and reviewed by this officer, the defendant became quite concerned, in that it contained very sensitive and embarrassing information about members of the community in Santa Barbara.
“After being informed that the document was, in fact, going to be made part of the Probation Report, in that it had been submitted as part of the statement made by Detective McGrew of the Santa Barbara Police Department, the defendant agreed to discuss the sexual autobiography.”
(IT TRULY REVEALS how the Church inner enviroment caused this epidemic of pedophilia to germinate.)
More to Come soon...
We still need High Fives. It costs fifty cents a page to make copies of legal documents at L.A. Superior Court.
Please click one of the Donate Buttons here to keep City of Angels alive. (Google refuses to run ads here...)
(CORRECTION: St. Anthony's Seminary high school for boys closed in June 1987, not 1986 as we reported last story....)
By Kay Ebeling
The Santa Barbara Boys Choir, "was clearly my choir, and the fulfillment of one of my fondest dreams," writes ex-priest Robert Van Handel in an attachment to his probation report called "Sexual Autobiography," from which we've scanned five pages here, for our readers to click-enlarge and read.
In his 9-point type single-spaced memoir, Van Handel (pictured above) admits, “Now I understand that [the choir] was also a constant supply of attractive little boys.”
It's likely Van Handel molested 150 eight- to twelve-year-olds as director of the Santa Barbara Boys Choir, according to a letter from his own therapist to the Court in 1994. (Read more in Santa Barbara Story Parts 9 and 10 coming soon.) On these pages about his time as a Franciscan in Santa Barbara running the boys' choir, the pedophile priest talks his way through years of serial felonies.
A lot of his words are offensive, people email me about R ratings, etc. We do not pull punches on purpose at City of Angels. If anyone is "offended," stop a moment and think. How offended are the people on the receiving end of these crimes? I'm sorry, but there was no editing going on when these priests raped us, so there is no editing going on here as I write about it.
This Sexual Autobiography of Father Robert van Handel is just one example of how bad the pedophile priest epidemic got in just one high school in one religious order in one city, the crimes of just one perpetrator. Multiply that by six thousand pedophile Catholic priests (as of January 2010 and still counting see bishopaccountability database) and you see how far reaching and extensive the crimes were.
Cash settlements to a fraction of the victims across the country has not resulted in justice. We need more investigation, law enforcement, and prosecution of the pedophile epidemic in the Catholic Church.
Also below we copy and pasted current information on the flagrant friar from the Megan's Law website for monitoring sex offenders in California.
From Probation Report submitted to Santa Barbara Superior Court Case #202042, five of the twenty-seven pages of Van Handel's Sexual Autobiography (Click to Enlarge and Read) (Don't open the second page scanned here, if you are easily offended):
From Megan's Law Website:
Robert Van Handel Last Known Address:
15705 HWY 9,
GARAGE
BOULDER CREEK,
CALIFORNIA
County: SANTA CRUZ
Zip Code: 95006
Date of Birth: 04-02-1947
Sex: MALE
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 173
Eye Color: GREEN
Hair Color: GRAY
Ethnicity: WHITE
Offense: Code 288(a)
LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS
We Googled to see a satellite view.
Looks like Van Handel is living about 30 miles northeast of Santa Cruz, deep in the lush green rolling hills between San Jose and the Pacific Ocean. If it is a garage apartment, it's connected to a nice big house.
He was ordered by the Court to continue Sex Offender therapy. Van Handel was going to group and individual Sex Offender sessions at
Pacific Treatment Associates in Santa Cruz,
Hopefully they are keeping an eye on him now.
MORE
FROM THE PROBATION REPORT
The arresting officer explains how the Sexual Autobiography of Fr. Robert Van Handel came into the record:
"Upon being informed that a copy of his sexual history which he produced for a therapist of his at Pacific Treatment Center had been obtained and reviewed by this officer, the defendant became quite concerned, in that it contained very sensitive and embarrassing information about members of the community in Santa Barbara.
“After being informed that the document was, in fact, going to be made part of the Probation Report, in that it had been submitted as part of the statement made by Detective McGrew of the Santa Barbara Police Department, the defendant agreed to discuss the sexual autobiography.”
(IT TRULY REVEALS how the Church inner enviroment caused this epidemic of pedophilia to germinate.)
More to Come soon...
We still need High Fives. It costs fifty cents a page to make copies of legal documents at L.A. Superior Court.
Please click one of the Donate Buttons here to keep City of Angels alive. (Google refuses to run ads here...)
(CORRECTION: St. Anthony's Seminary high school for boys closed in June 1987, not 1986 as we reported last story....)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
First Year in Seminary, sex assaults by two different Franciscans: The Santa Barbara Story, Part 8
.
By Kay Ebeling
"Anonymous" keeps popping up in our Comments to point out that quotes from legal briefs in The Santa Barbara Story are "Allegations Only." That's true, and since the Church almost always settles before trial without admitting guilt, only part of the evidence becomes public record and it rarely gets published where the public can read it, like here at City of Angels. Still, Tim Hale, author of the briefs we are quoting confirms: "Everything alleged in these amended complaints is supported by admissible evidence assembled from investigation and discovery conducted during the last eleven years of litigation involving the Franciscans."
So here is Part 8 of The Santa Barbara Story, which started in 2009 and will go on until it's over. In this entry we are running direct quotes from Case #1338070, Santa Barbara Superior Court, filed November 3, 2009, Page 1 of First Amended Complaint scanned here, click to enlarge.
Some quotes you will encounter: "(Fr. Gus) Krumm pinned Craig from behind to the point the boy could not move, pushing Craig’s face against the wall, and began thrusting his groin against Craig’s buttocks," reads one paragraph. "(Later) Krumm said, 'you didn’t see anything here, you didn’t hear anything, and you’re not wanted. And you’re probably not coming back.'
And worse: "While sensing something was wrong, Craig could not comprehend why he felt ashamed and embarrassed after the supposed medical exams." The medical exams were at the probing hands of priests with no training, at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara, until the Franciscans closed the boys' high school 1986.
"Craig thought the Church was his sanctuary from an abusive home life, instead Franciscans exploited his vulnerability."
THE COMPLAINT
Directly quoted, from here to end of post
9.2 Defendants (Franciscans) knew or should have known of the risk posed by Brother David Johnson before he assaulted Ernesto. At least as early as the Fall of 1979 and again in the Summer of 1980, the Franciscans, including the rector, Father Mel Jurisich, received notice that Johnson was sexually assaulting St. Anthony’s students. Specifically, in the Fall of 1979 Johnson sexually assaulted St. Anthony’s student Craig (Last Name Redacted).
It was a physically violent and terrifying assault involving Johnson’s forcible attempted rape of Craig with a foreign object. Also present during the assault The Franciscans were put on notice of Johnson’s crimes against students again the following Summer of 1980. At least one agent of the Franciscans not only was put on notice of Johnson’s propensities but observed and likely participated in one of his sexual assaults long before Johnson assaulted Ernesto.
Unfortunately, as the school year came to a close yet another notorious perpetrator and faculty member, then religious brother and future priest, Gus Krumm, inflicted another violent sexual assault on Craig. Specifically, one night as Craig walked down a seminary hallway he passed by Krumm’s office and heard what sounded like grunts or groans coming from inside.
As the front office door was open, Craig entered and asked if everything was OK. Krumm emerged from his bedroom shortly thereafter; Krumm appeared to be sweating and smelled bad, and looked disheveled wearing only Corduroy shorts and a gray t-shirt. Krumm angrily asked what Craig was doing in his office, and Craig explained he had heard strange noises and thought someone needed help.
This enraged Krumm who proceeded to grab Craig, spin him around, and drive Craig forcefully into the office wall.
************
Krumm then pinned Craig from behind to the point the boy could not move, pushing Craig’s face against the wall
************************
Krumm then pinned Craig from behind to the point the boy could not move, pushing Craig’s face against the wall. Krumm then began thrusting his groin against Craig’s buttocks, placed his mouth next to Craig’s ear, and reached around and grabbed the terrified and immobilized boy’s genitals, squeezing them tightly to the point Craig was in so much pain he began to cry.
Eventually Krumm said something to the effect of "you didn’t see anything here, you didn’t hear anything, and you’re not wanted. And you’re probably not coming back."
Craig was so terrified and in such pain he agreed immediately. Krumm then released Craig’s genitals and shoved the still crying boy out of the office.
*************
BACKGROUND
Craig's Life before St. Anthony's
********************
When Craig first arrived at St. Anthony’s he felt tremendously relieved to be away from his abusive home-life. Catholic schools and parishes had long been his sanctuary, and St. Anthony’s felt particularly safe as it was located far away from his stepfather in another state. As a result, Craig's initial sense of relief was overwhelming, almost to the point of euphoria.
The Perpetrators, acting as managing agents of the Defendants, utilized the trust and reverence inherent in their status as a Franciscans to isolate and abuse Craig.
Craig was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family that idolized priests, was taught by Defendants to trust, revere and obey priests as God’s representatives on Earth, and had long viewed priests as the caretakers of his sanctuary from an abusive home-life.
The Perpetrators exploited Craig’s hope of having been rescued from his abusive home-life and also utilized Craig’s trust and resulting vulnerability and deference to priests to manipulate Craig, who was approximately fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) years of age during the period of abuse.
**************
Medical Exams by Franciscans with no Medical Training, strangely all centered on the pubic area...
************************
One of the manipulations resulted in Craig’s abuse in the infirmary during the purported physical exam. When Craig was instructed to go to the infirmary he did as he was told. Once there, Father Robert Van Handel fraudulently informed Craig before the assault that Craig was there for a "check-up" to be performed by the Perpetrator.
The Perpetrator informed Craig he had to conduct a "test" on Craig. This use of what on its face appeared to be a legitimate medical purpose, while in the school infirmary, coupled with Van Handel’s and the Perpetrator’s trusted status as Franciscans, inhibited Craig’s awareness of the wrongfulness of this conduct until recently.
Van Handel and the Perpetrator induced Craig to believe he had been called to the infirmary for a legitimate medical purpose. Consequently, while sensing something was wrong Craig could not comprehend why he felt ashamed and embarrassed after the supposed exams, and was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of the conduct until recently, within the last three years.
*************
Craig finds out other students had the same abusive medical exams through previous cases.
*************************
Specifically, it was not until after he began recovering his memories of the abuse by Johnson and Krumm that he first sought out and read other accounts of St. Anthony’s students who were sexually abused, it was during this time that Craig first learned that many students had been abused during fraudulent physical examinations conducted by Franciscan perpetrators.
Only after reading these accounts did he begin to suspect Van Handel’s and the Perpetrator’s statements were fraudulent, and had been utilized by the two Franciscans to make him vulnerable to the abuse by the Perpetrator.
With regards to the assaults by Johnson and Krumm, shortly after the assault by Krumm, Craig returned to Phoenix for the summer. Initially Craig was hopeful things had changed at home, but the abuse at home continued soon after his return.
Feeling trapped between two terrifying choices – physical abuse at home in Phoenix versus physical and sexual abuse at St. Anthony’s – Craig turned for help to the only remaining person and place he felt he could trust, one of the priests at his home parish.
That priest had always been supportive of Craig in the past, helping him gain admission to St. Anthony’s. As a result, he was the only remaining person Craig felt he could speak honestly to about St. Anthony’s. Craig hoped that priest would be able to refer him (Craig) and help him gain admission to another school outside of Phoenix, one without the horrors to which he had been subjected at St. Anthony’s. Much to Craig’s dismay when he went to the parish he was unable to find his perceived savior, instead encountering Father Thomas O’Brien, a priest who would go on to become the Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix. (See Parts 2 and 3 of this story to see what happened when Craig went to see O'Brien.)
*********
Stories in this Santa Barbara series are copied word for word from First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Case Numbers 1338070 filed November 3, and 1337577 filed October 5, 2009. filed byLaw firm of Nye Peabody Stirling & Hale
Part 1 is here: Santa Barbara Was Dumping Ground
Part 2 is here New Sex Crime Ploy of Franciscans
Part 3 is here Funds Available for Therapy for Victims
Part 4 is here Franciscan Grabbed Freshman By the Genitals
Part 5 is here Pedophilia is a Privacy Right and Other Ploys
Part 6 is here Priests Take Boys on Drunken Camping Trip
We are reading Robert Van Handel's "Sexual Autobiography."
The same Franciscan who conducted these medical exams on Craig talks about a priest conducting a similar exam on Van Handel when he was in the same seminary in the 1960s.
Story coming soon...
****
Can't resist commenting sometimes:
"Six thousand priests have been found who were pedophiles in the U.S. Catholic Church. There is no way other priests did not know what went on behind those walls, they all lied then, now they are lying that they did not know."
City of Angels Lady Posted the above comment on:
Vatican bank charged with money-laundering
VATICAN CITYPress TV (Iran)
The Bank of the Vatican has been accused of laundering USD 200 million by proxy through an Italian creditor, a report indicates.
The allegation of the Vatican bank's financial corruption has been made by an Italian magazine that pointed to the financial institute's purported involvement in stealth fiscal transactions —via several accounts —with Italy's UniCredit Bank, Russia Today television network quoted the Panorama magazine as reporting. “This corruption is continuing on a regular basis in the Vatican,” claimed Janathan Levy, a lawyer familiar with the bank. (Article Posted by Kathy Shaw at Abuse Tracker at 7:39 AM today)
***********
In his life, by writing his 27 page single space typed "Sexual Autobiography," which we are using along with his Probation Report for future stories in The Santa Barbara Story series here. The perp's own words reveal so much about the environment that germinated this epidemic of pedophiles in the priesthood.
Very revealing
Wish more priests would come forward and talk.
More stories to come shortly...
By Kay Ebeling
"Anonymous" keeps popping up in our Comments to point out that quotes from legal briefs in The Santa Barbara Story are "Allegations Only." That's true, and since the Church almost always settles before trial without admitting guilt, only part of the evidence becomes public record and it rarely gets published where the public can read it, like here at City of Angels. Still, Tim Hale, author of the briefs we are quoting confirms: "Everything alleged in these amended complaints is supported by admissible evidence assembled from investigation and discovery conducted during the last eleven years of litigation involving the Franciscans."
So here is Part 8 of The Santa Barbara Story, which started in 2009 and will go on until it's over. In this entry we are running direct quotes from Case #1338070, Santa Barbara Superior Court, filed November 3, 2009, Page 1 of First Amended Complaint scanned here, click to enlarge.Some quotes you will encounter: "(Fr. Gus) Krumm pinned Craig from behind to the point the boy could not move, pushing Craig’s face against the wall, and began thrusting his groin against Craig’s buttocks," reads one paragraph. "(Later) Krumm said, 'you didn’t see anything here, you didn’t hear anything, and you’re not wanted. And you’re probably not coming back.'
And worse: "While sensing something was wrong, Craig could not comprehend why he felt ashamed and embarrassed after the supposed medical exams." The medical exams were at the probing hands of priests with no training, at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara, until the Franciscans closed the boys' high school 1986.
"Craig thought the Church was his sanctuary from an abusive home life, instead Franciscans exploited his vulnerability."
THE COMPLAINT
Directly quoted, from here to end of post
9.2 Defendants (Franciscans) knew or should have known of the risk posed by Brother David Johnson before he assaulted Ernesto. At least as early as the Fall of 1979 and again in the Summer of 1980, the Franciscans, including the rector, Father Mel Jurisich, received notice that Johnson was sexually assaulting St. Anthony’s students. Specifically, in the Fall of 1979 Johnson sexually assaulted St. Anthony’s student Craig (Last Name Redacted).
It was a physically violent and terrifying assault involving Johnson’s forcible attempted rape of Craig with a foreign object. Also present during the assault The Franciscans were put on notice of Johnson’s crimes against students again the following Summer of 1980. At least one agent of the Franciscans not only was put on notice of Johnson’s propensities but observed and likely participated in one of his sexual assaults long before Johnson assaulted Ernesto.
Unfortunately, as the school year came to a close yet another notorious perpetrator and faculty member, then religious brother and future priest, Gus Krumm, inflicted another violent sexual assault on Craig. Specifically, one night as Craig walked down a seminary hallway he passed by Krumm’s office and heard what sounded like grunts or groans coming from inside.
As the front office door was open, Craig entered and asked if everything was OK. Krumm emerged from his bedroom shortly thereafter; Krumm appeared to be sweating and smelled bad, and looked disheveled wearing only Corduroy shorts and a gray t-shirt. Krumm angrily asked what Craig was doing in his office, and Craig explained he had heard strange noises and thought someone needed help.
This enraged Krumm who proceeded to grab Craig, spin him around, and drive Craig forcefully into the office wall.
************
Krumm then pinned Craig from behind to the point the boy could not move, pushing Craig’s face against the wall
************************
Krumm then pinned Craig from behind to the point the boy could not move, pushing Craig’s face against the wall. Krumm then began thrusting his groin against Craig’s buttocks, placed his mouth next to Craig’s ear, and reached around and grabbed the terrified and immobilized boy’s genitals, squeezing them tightly to the point Craig was in so much pain he began to cry.
Eventually Krumm said something to the effect of "you didn’t see anything here, you didn’t hear anything, and you’re not wanted. And you’re probably not coming back."
Craig was so terrified and in such pain he agreed immediately. Krumm then released Craig’s genitals and shoved the still crying boy out of the office.
*************
BACKGROUND
Craig's Life before St. Anthony's
********************
When Craig first arrived at St. Anthony’s he felt tremendously relieved to be away from his abusive home-life. Catholic schools and parishes had long been his sanctuary, and St. Anthony’s felt particularly safe as it was located far away from his stepfather in another state. As a result, Craig's initial sense of relief was overwhelming, almost to the point of euphoria.
The Perpetrators, acting as managing agents of the Defendants, utilized the trust and reverence inherent in their status as a Franciscans to isolate and abuse Craig.
Craig was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family that idolized priests, was taught by Defendants to trust, revere and obey priests as God’s representatives on Earth, and had long viewed priests as the caretakers of his sanctuary from an abusive home-life.
The Perpetrators exploited Craig’s hope of having been rescued from his abusive home-life and also utilized Craig’s trust and resulting vulnerability and deference to priests to manipulate Craig, who was approximately fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) years of age during the period of abuse.
**************
Medical Exams by Franciscans with no Medical Training, strangely all centered on the pubic area...
************************
One of the manipulations resulted in Craig’s abuse in the infirmary during the purported physical exam. When Craig was instructed to go to the infirmary he did as he was told. Once there, Father Robert Van Handel fraudulently informed Craig before the assault that Craig was there for a "check-up" to be performed by the Perpetrator.
The Perpetrator informed Craig he had to conduct a "test" on Craig. This use of what on its face appeared to be a legitimate medical purpose, while in the school infirmary, coupled with Van Handel’s and the Perpetrator’s trusted status as Franciscans, inhibited Craig’s awareness of the wrongfulness of this conduct until recently.
Van Handel and the Perpetrator induced Craig to believe he had been called to the infirmary for a legitimate medical purpose. Consequently, while sensing something was wrong Craig could not comprehend why he felt ashamed and embarrassed after the supposed exams, and was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of the conduct until recently, within the last three years.
*************
Craig finds out other students had the same abusive medical exams through previous cases.
*************************
Specifically, it was not until after he began recovering his memories of the abuse by Johnson and Krumm that he first sought out and read other accounts of St. Anthony’s students who were sexually abused, it was during this time that Craig first learned that many students had been abused during fraudulent physical examinations conducted by Franciscan perpetrators.
Only after reading these accounts did he begin to suspect Van Handel’s and the Perpetrator’s statements were fraudulent, and had been utilized by the two Franciscans to make him vulnerable to the abuse by the Perpetrator.
With regards to the assaults by Johnson and Krumm, shortly after the assault by Krumm, Craig returned to Phoenix for the summer. Initially Craig was hopeful things had changed at home, but the abuse at home continued soon after his return.
Feeling trapped between two terrifying choices – physical abuse at home in Phoenix versus physical and sexual abuse at St. Anthony’s – Craig turned for help to the only remaining person and place he felt he could trust, one of the priests at his home parish.
That priest had always been supportive of Craig in the past, helping him gain admission to St. Anthony’s. As a result, he was the only remaining person Craig felt he could speak honestly to about St. Anthony’s. Craig hoped that priest would be able to refer him (Craig) and help him gain admission to another school outside of Phoenix, one without the horrors to which he had been subjected at St. Anthony’s. Much to Craig’s dismay when he went to the parish he was unable to find his perceived savior, instead encountering Father Thomas O’Brien, a priest who would go on to become the Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix. (See Parts 2 and 3 of this story to see what happened when Craig went to see O'Brien.)
*********
Stories in this Santa Barbara series are copied word for word from First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Case Numbers 1338070 filed November 3, and 1337577 filed October 5, 2009. filed byLaw firm of Nye Peabody Stirling & Hale
Part 1 is here: Santa Barbara Was Dumping Ground
Part 2 is here New Sex Crime Ploy of Franciscans
Part 3 is here Funds Available for Therapy for Victims
Part 4 is here Franciscan Grabbed Freshman By the Genitals
Part 5 is here Pedophilia is a Privacy Right and Other Ploys
Part 6 is here Priests Take Boys on Drunken Camping Trip
PLUS
We are reading Robert Van Handel's "Sexual Autobiography."
The same Franciscan who conducted these medical exams on Craig talks about a priest conducting a similar exam on Van Handel when he was in the same seminary in the 1960s.
Story coming soon...
****
Can't resist commenting sometimes:
"Six thousand priests have been found who were pedophiles in the U.S. Catholic Church. There is no way other priests did not know what went on behind those walls, they all lied then, now they are lying that they did not know."
City of Angels Lady Posted the above comment on:
Vatican bank charged with money-laundering
VATICAN CITYPress TV (Iran)
The Bank of the Vatican has been accused of laundering USD 200 million by proxy through an Italian creditor, a report indicates.
The allegation of the Vatican bank's financial corruption has been made by an Italian magazine that pointed to the financial institute's purported involvement in stealth fiscal transactions —via several accounts —with Italy's UniCredit Bank, Russia Today television network quoted the Panorama magazine as reporting. “This corruption is continuing on a regular basis in the Vatican,” claimed Janathan Levy, a lawyer familiar with the bank. (Article Posted by Kathy Shaw at Abuse Tracker at 7:39 AM today)
***********
Former Franciscan,
Robert Van Handel
Did do
One Good Thing
In his life, by writing his 27 page single space typed "Sexual Autobiography," which we are using along with his Probation Report for future stories in The Santa Barbara Story series here. The perp's own words reveal so much about the environment that germinated this epidemic of pedophiles in the priesthood.
Very revealing
Wish more priests would come forward and talk.
More stories to come shortly...
Friday, January 22, 2010
Priests Take Boys on Drunken Camping Trip to Yosemite. Santa Barbara Story Part 6, wait until you see Parts 9 and 10
.
By Kay Ebeling
We continue to run direct quotes from two lawsuits filed Fall 2009 regarding Fraciscan perpetrators at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara. Plus someone handed me evidence from a 1990s lawsuit against those same Franciscans this week, the "sexual autobiography" of Robert Van Handel, written by the pedophile priest himself. So after upcoming posts from a third 2009 lawsuit against the religious order, City of Angels will have figured out what to do with Van Handel's sexual memoir.
He wrote: "A Franciscan priest and former faculty member was accused of molesting two young men while they were students at St. Anthony's. Not only was I best of friends with this family, but unknown to them at the time, I had molested the same two boys when they were in choir, by tickling them and touching their genitals. Now I was expected to console the families, deal with the anger of the parents, because the offender was in the faculty."
In a panicked state Van Handel runs to his therapist: "I explained in general terms the state of my life. He helped me to pull out of my depression, but I don't think I ever really completely recovered." Nice to know the adults were all so concerned about each other while the children were being raped.
The sexual autobiography got passed around a bit among plaintiffs in the 1990s, apparently before Church attorneys realized they better scrounge everything up and find a way to con-vince a judge to keep everything sealed. You have to read Van Handel's sexual reminiscenses a few paragraphs at a time, as his cavalier treatment of his own crimes is hard to take. We will quote it and cover it fully in Parts 9 and 10.
Here is Santa Barbara Story Part 6:
[In the 1980s, seeking refuge from a broken home, Ernesto becomes an altar boy and dreams of becoming a priest. He ends up living in a nightmare when he goes away to high school at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara.
A Franciscan would mishandle him in the hallways "on a sometimes weekly basis." Then two Franciscan perpetrators take Ernesto and another boy for a camping trip to Yosemite, the experience in the tent haunts Ernesto to this day.
Ernesto's experience is documented here in the words from another lawsuit. Here is Part 6 of the Santa Barbara story (2009), direct quotes from First Amended Complaint in Case 1337577 filed October 5, 2009 in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Page 1 scanned in at right, click to elnarge:]
10. Plaintiff Ernesto C. grew up in Richmond, CA, and was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. They attended Mass every Sunday and Ernesto served as an altar boy. He began attending Catholic School in sixth grade, and soon thereafter decided he wanted to become a priest. During 8th grade he applied to several seminaries, ultimately deciding on St. Anthony’s.
Like so many victims of clergy abuse he also was the product of a broken home. The absence of a father figure in his life made Ernesto all the more dependent on paternal figures such as priests, and made him all the more vulnerable to predators willing to exploit this void in Ernesto’s life. St. Anthony’s was home to a horrific number of such predators.
***************
Dave Johnson, Franciscan, perpetrator, was everywhere at the school, he'd wrestle with them ...
**************************
When Ernesto enrolled at St. Anthony’s for his freshman year in 1979, it was immediately clear Franciscan perpetrator Dave Johnson was everywhere at the school, and was permitted to have extensive and inappropriate physical contact with students. Johnson openly touched and massaged students, wrestled with them, and engaged in regular physical contact with students in public places.
Such conduct between students and faculty was part of the accepted culture created and fostered by the Franciscans at St. Anthony’s. During Ernesto’s sophomore year in 1980-81 he was a frequent recipient of Johnson’s abusive conduct.
On a sometimes weekly basis that year Johnson would approach from behind and without invitation massage Ernesto’s shoulders when walking down the halls. Johnson was openly and inappropriately affectionate towards Ernesto, and was observed massaging Ernesto’s chest while in public on school grounds. During Spring break of this school year Johnson escalated his conduct into more extreme abuse.
Johnson asked Ernesto and another student, Victim #850, to go camping at Yosemite with Johnson and another perpetrator, Br. Berard Connolly. The entire school and faculty were aware that these two men were taking the two boys on an overnight trip as, at least amongst the students, Ernesto and Victim #85 were considered lucky and cool to have been chosen.
*************
A Drunken Trip to Yosemite, with at least two sexual assaults: Two Perps and two Teenage Boys ...
**********************
No efforts were made by the Franciscans to stop the trip from happening, and the four left from the school without objection by the Franciscans. The two men and the two boys drove to Yosemite in a school van. Ernesto remembers thinking it was a bit strange he and Victim #85 had been invited as they were not friends.
The fact they had been targeted for abuse never crossed Ernesto’s mind. At the campground there were two tents, with Victim #85 and Connolly in one, and Johnson and Ernesto in the other.
Over the next two days Johnson sexually assaulted Ernesto on at least two occasions, including an assault while hiking and another the first night in the tent they shared.
Before the assault in the tent the four had been sitting around the campfire. Connolly and Victim #85 eventually went to their own tent and Ernesto found himself alone with Johnson. After they left Johnson smiled and said "I’ve got a surprise for you, " pulling out a bottle of Bacardi.
******************
The fact Johnson now wanted to provide him with alcohol to celebrate something they accomplished together made Ernesto feel special
*******************************
Ernesto was euphoric, believing Johnson meant this as a celebration for their having completed a long hike together earlier that day. Ernesto looked up to Johnson as a spiritual counselor, an authority figure, and, most important, as someone who spoke with the voice of God. Johnson in many ways filled the paternal void created when Ernesto’s father abandoned their family.
The fact Johnson now wanted to provide him with alcohol to celebrate something they accomplished together made Ernesto feel special, and provided Ernesto with feelings of paternal validation he had long craved. Johnson handed the bottle to the boy and induced him to drink about half the bottle.
Once Ernesto was very inebriated, Johnson walked the boy to the tent where Ernesto fell face-first onto his sleeping bag, drunk, groggy and wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. Johnson had other plans.
Knowing he had rendered the boy into a vulnerable state Johnson exploited the situation and sexually assaulted Ernesto. Ernesto recalls struggling against the assault, hearing the noise of the struggle from the rustling of the sleeping bags, but being too groggy and intoxicated to stop the abuse by the much bigger and stronger man.
Ernesto was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family that idolized priests, was taught by Defendants to trust, revere and obey priests as God’s representatives on earth, and had enrolled at St. Anthony’s with the dream of himself becoming a priest. Ernesto also was the product of a broken home and was desperate for paternal validation. Johnson exploited these things to manipulate Ernesto, who was approximately fifteen (15) years of age.
When Johnson showered Ernesto with praise and affection while grooming him for abuse, Ernesto was euphoric at receiving such long-craved paternal attention from a man he considered the voice of God and thus infallible. When Johnson’s grooming became sexual abuse Ernesto’s subconscious was unwilling and unable to recognize the wrongfulness of Johnson’s conduct as doing so would have destroyed his long-held faith in the infallibility of Roman Catholic priests.
It also would have ripped away the newfound paternal validation that he craved and that Johnson had mercilessly recognized and exploited during the grooming process.
***************
To this day there remain parts of Johnson’s assault in the tent that Ernesto has been unable to recall
**************************
As a result, when the abuse began Ernesto was overwhelmed with shock and confusion. Unable to acknowledge that this man he had been groomed to trust, admire and depend on was sexually assaulting him, Ernesto shut-down and disconnected, dissociating himself from the horror of what was taking place and repressing all memory of the abuse. It was not until many years later that Ernesto began to recover memories of Johnson’s abuse.
To this day there remain parts of Johnson’s assault in the tent that he has been unable to recall, and he still has no memory of waking up the next morning. In an illustration of both his desperation for a trusted father figure and the strength of his repression he recalls having a special feeling towards Johnson the morning after the assault, as if they were family and shared a strong familial connection.
He recalls thinking it was nice to have such a wonderful connection with a father-figure who Ernesto also considered a brother in the Lord. Ernesto has been able to recall little of the remainder of the trip. He knows they spent a second night at the camp, but has been unable to recall what occurred.
**************
Ernesto even asked his perpetrator Johnson to officiate at his wedding in 1985
(City of Angels has seen this phenom in many cases around the country, the victim has his perp say his wedding. There's something about that emotional attachment, a need to prove to the perp he's not needed, someday someone will be able to explain it...)
*******************
Further illustration of the extent of the repression of the memory of the abuse is the fact until relatively recently Ernesto considered Johnson a special person in his life. Ernesto asked Johnson to officiate at his wedding in 1985, wrote Johnson for guidance, felt compelled to share with Johnson in approximately 1998 the fact he (Ernesto) had a profound religious experience at a Cursillos, and as recently as 2000 or 2001 felt compelled to tell Johnson he loved him (Johnson) as a brother in the Lord.
When contacted by an investigator in the late 1990s and asked whether he had been abused at St. Anthony’s, Ernesto was adamant in stating he had not. It was not until Ernesto began to recover these memories that he realized Johnson, his perceived savior, had crossed the line into sexual abuse. As a result of his reverence for Johnson and his repression of memories of the abuse Ernesto could not understand the wrongfulness of Johnson’s conduct, and internalized feelings of shame, self-blame, and self-loathing, while blocking out and dissociating from those feelings, rendering him unable to perceive the injuries he suffered from Johnson’s abusive conduct and its effect on his lifeAfter the abuse Ernesto’s life began a downward spiral.
Without understanding his own behavior, Ernesto rebelled against authority figures and abused alcohol and drugs. The alcohol abuse went on for decades, and remains a continuing challenge for Ernesto. In the summer of 2006, Ernesto’s abuse-related self-medication with alcohol had grown so out of control that he began treatment for alcoholism that required substantial self-analysis and introspection. It was during this process that Ernesto first realized Johnson’s abuse had caused him injury. He also began for the first time to understand his own feelings surrounding the abuse, how the abuse has affected him, and how it continues to affect him.
Prior to the summer of 2006, Ernesto did not know or understand his own feelings regarding the abuse, much less that it had caused him injuries as an adult.
***************
Stories in this Santa Barbara series are copied word for word from First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Case Numbers 1338070 filed November 3, and 1337577 filed October 5, 2009. filed by
Law firm of Nye Peabody Stirling & Hale
The previous episodes of Santa Barbara Story 2009:
Part One: SB was Dumping Ground
Part Two: A New Sex Crime Ploy by Franciscans
Part Three: Money Available for Therapy for Victims
Part Four: Franciscan Grabbed Freshman by the Genitals
Part Five: Pedophilia is a Privacy Right for Franciscans
Barbara Story Part 7 coming very soon, Part 8 will be the yet another case filed last Fall.
Then Parts 9 and 10 on the Santa Barbara Story will concern the startling new information from Van Handel documents passed to us this week.
KEEP LEAKING
Please: Send City of Angels more stuff to post:
Documents, tapes, photographs, blue dresses or vestments with strange white stains.
I can't think of anything better for City of Angels to do than release documents that the Church is trying to keep the public from seeing.
So keep mailing them, keep delivering them, keep emailing them.
I got nothing but time...
,
Onward...
By Kay Ebeling
We continue to run direct quotes from two lawsuits filed Fall 2009 regarding Fraciscan perpetrators at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara. Plus someone handed me evidence from a 1990s lawsuit against those same Franciscans this week, the "sexual autobiography" of Robert Van Handel, written by the pedophile priest himself. So after upcoming posts from a third 2009 lawsuit against the religious order, City of Angels will have figured out what to do with Van Handel's sexual memoir.
He wrote: "A Franciscan priest and former faculty member was accused of molesting two young men while they were students at St. Anthony's. Not only was I best of friends with this family, but unknown to them at the time, I had molested the same two boys when they were in choir, by tickling them and touching their genitals. Now I was expected to console the families, deal with the anger of the parents, because the offender was in the faculty."
In a panicked state Van Handel runs to his therapist: "I explained in general terms the state of my life. He helped me to pull out of my depression, but I don't think I ever really completely recovered." Nice to know the adults were all so concerned about each other while the children were being raped.
The sexual autobiography got passed around a bit among plaintiffs in the 1990s, apparently before Church attorneys realized they better scrounge everything up and find a way to con-vince a judge to keep everything sealed. You have to read Van Handel's sexual reminiscenses a few paragraphs at a time, as his cavalier treatment of his own crimes is hard to take. We will quote it and cover it fully in Parts 9 and 10.
Here is Santa Barbara Story Part 6:
[In the 1980s, seeking refuge from a broken home, Ernesto becomes an altar boy and dreams of becoming a priest. He ends up living in a nightmare when he goes away to high school at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara.
A Franciscan would mishandle him in the hallways "on a sometimes weekly basis." Then two Franciscan perpetrators take Ernesto and another boy for a camping trip to Yosemite, the experience in the tent haunts Ernesto to this day.
Ernesto's experience is documented here in the words from another lawsuit. Here is Part 6 of the Santa Barbara story (2009), direct quotes from First Amended Complaint in Case 1337577 filed October 5, 2009 in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Page 1 scanned in at right, click to elnarge:]10. Plaintiff Ernesto C. grew up in Richmond, CA, and was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. They attended Mass every Sunday and Ernesto served as an altar boy. He began attending Catholic School in sixth grade, and soon thereafter decided he wanted to become a priest. During 8th grade he applied to several seminaries, ultimately deciding on St. Anthony’s.
Like so many victims of clergy abuse he also was the product of a broken home. The absence of a father figure in his life made Ernesto all the more dependent on paternal figures such as priests, and made him all the more vulnerable to predators willing to exploit this void in Ernesto’s life. St. Anthony’s was home to a horrific number of such predators.
***************
Dave Johnson, Franciscan, perpetrator, was everywhere at the school, he'd wrestle with them ...
**************************
When Ernesto enrolled at St. Anthony’s for his freshman year in 1979, it was immediately clear Franciscan perpetrator Dave Johnson was everywhere at the school, and was permitted to have extensive and inappropriate physical contact with students. Johnson openly touched and massaged students, wrestled with them, and engaged in regular physical contact with students in public places.
Such conduct between students and faculty was part of the accepted culture created and fostered by the Franciscans at St. Anthony’s. During Ernesto’s sophomore year in 1980-81 he was a frequent recipient of Johnson’s abusive conduct.
On a sometimes weekly basis that year Johnson would approach from behind and without invitation massage Ernesto’s shoulders when walking down the halls. Johnson was openly and inappropriately affectionate towards Ernesto, and was observed massaging Ernesto’s chest while in public on school grounds. During Spring break of this school year Johnson escalated his conduct into more extreme abuse.
Johnson asked Ernesto and another student, Victim #850, to go camping at Yosemite with Johnson and another perpetrator, Br. Berard Connolly. The entire school and faculty were aware that these two men were taking the two boys on an overnight trip as, at least amongst the students, Ernesto and Victim #85 were considered lucky and cool to have been chosen.
*************
A Drunken Trip to Yosemite, with at least two sexual assaults: Two Perps and two Teenage Boys ...
**********************
No efforts were made by the Franciscans to stop the trip from happening, and the four left from the school without objection by the Franciscans. The two men and the two boys drove to Yosemite in a school van. Ernesto remembers thinking it was a bit strange he and Victim #85 had been invited as they were not friends.
The fact they had been targeted for abuse never crossed Ernesto’s mind. At the campground there were two tents, with Victim #85 and Connolly in one, and Johnson and Ernesto in the other.
Over the next two days Johnson sexually assaulted Ernesto on at least two occasions, including an assault while hiking and another the first night in the tent they shared.
Before the assault in the tent the four had been sitting around the campfire. Connolly and Victim #85 eventually went to their own tent and Ernesto found himself alone with Johnson. After they left Johnson smiled and said "I’ve got a surprise for you, " pulling out a bottle of Bacardi.
******************
The fact Johnson now wanted to provide him with alcohol to celebrate something they accomplished together made Ernesto feel special
*******************************
Ernesto was euphoric, believing Johnson meant this as a celebration for their having completed a long hike together earlier that day. Ernesto looked up to Johnson as a spiritual counselor, an authority figure, and, most important, as someone who spoke with the voice of God. Johnson in many ways filled the paternal void created when Ernesto’s father abandoned their family.
The fact Johnson now wanted to provide him with alcohol to celebrate something they accomplished together made Ernesto feel special, and provided Ernesto with feelings of paternal validation he had long craved. Johnson handed the bottle to the boy and induced him to drink about half the bottle.
Once Ernesto was very inebriated, Johnson walked the boy to the tent where Ernesto fell face-first onto his sleeping bag, drunk, groggy and wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. Johnson had other plans.
Knowing he had rendered the boy into a vulnerable state Johnson exploited the situation and sexually assaulted Ernesto. Ernesto recalls struggling against the assault, hearing the noise of the struggle from the rustling of the sleeping bags, but being too groggy and intoxicated to stop the abuse by the much bigger and stronger man.
Ernesto was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family that idolized priests, was taught by Defendants to trust, revere and obey priests as God’s representatives on earth, and had enrolled at St. Anthony’s with the dream of himself becoming a priest. Ernesto also was the product of a broken home and was desperate for paternal validation. Johnson exploited these things to manipulate Ernesto, who was approximately fifteen (15) years of age.
When Johnson showered Ernesto with praise and affection while grooming him for abuse, Ernesto was euphoric at receiving such long-craved paternal attention from a man he considered the voice of God and thus infallible. When Johnson’s grooming became sexual abuse Ernesto’s subconscious was unwilling and unable to recognize the wrongfulness of Johnson’s conduct as doing so would have destroyed his long-held faith in the infallibility of Roman Catholic priests.
It also would have ripped away the newfound paternal validation that he craved and that Johnson had mercilessly recognized and exploited during the grooming process.
***************
To this day there remain parts of Johnson’s assault in the tent that Ernesto has been unable to recall
**************************
As a result, when the abuse began Ernesto was overwhelmed with shock and confusion. Unable to acknowledge that this man he had been groomed to trust, admire and depend on was sexually assaulting him, Ernesto shut-down and disconnected, dissociating himself from the horror of what was taking place and repressing all memory of the abuse. It was not until many years later that Ernesto began to recover memories of Johnson’s abuse.
To this day there remain parts of Johnson’s assault in the tent that he has been unable to recall, and he still has no memory of waking up the next morning. In an illustration of both his desperation for a trusted father figure and the strength of his repression he recalls having a special feeling towards Johnson the morning after the assault, as if they were family and shared a strong familial connection.
He recalls thinking it was nice to have such a wonderful connection with a father-figure who Ernesto also considered a brother in the Lord. Ernesto has been able to recall little of the remainder of the trip. He knows they spent a second night at the camp, but has been unable to recall what occurred.
**************
Ernesto even asked his perpetrator Johnson to officiate at his wedding in 1985
(City of Angels has seen this phenom in many cases around the country, the victim has his perp say his wedding. There's something about that emotional attachment, a need to prove to the perp he's not needed, someday someone will be able to explain it...)
*******************
Further illustration of the extent of the repression of the memory of the abuse is the fact until relatively recently Ernesto considered Johnson a special person in his life. Ernesto asked Johnson to officiate at his wedding in 1985, wrote Johnson for guidance, felt compelled to share with Johnson in approximately 1998 the fact he (Ernesto) had a profound religious experience at a Cursillos, and as recently as 2000 or 2001 felt compelled to tell Johnson he loved him (Johnson) as a brother in the Lord.
When contacted by an investigator in the late 1990s and asked whether he had been abused at St. Anthony’s, Ernesto was adamant in stating he had not. It was not until Ernesto began to recover these memories that he realized Johnson, his perceived savior, had crossed the line into sexual abuse. As a result of his reverence for Johnson and his repression of memories of the abuse Ernesto could not understand the wrongfulness of Johnson’s conduct, and internalized feelings of shame, self-blame, and self-loathing, while blocking out and dissociating from those feelings, rendering him unable to perceive the injuries he suffered from Johnson’s abusive conduct and its effect on his lifeAfter the abuse Ernesto’s life began a downward spiral.
Without understanding his own behavior, Ernesto rebelled against authority figures and abused alcohol and drugs. The alcohol abuse went on for decades, and remains a continuing challenge for Ernesto. In the summer of 2006, Ernesto’s abuse-related self-medication with alcohol had grown so out of control that he began treatment for alcoholism that required substantial self-analysis and introspection. It was during this process that Ernesto first realized Johnson’s abuse had caused him injury. He also began for the first time to understand his own feelings surrounding the abuse, how the abuse has affected him, and how it continues to affect him.
Prior to the summer of 2006, Ernesto did not know or understand his own feelings regarding the abuse, much less that it had caused him injuries as an adult.
***************
Stories in this Santa Barbara series are copied word for word from First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Case Numbers 1338070 filed November 3, and 1337577 filed October 5, 2009. filed by
Law firm of Nye Peabody Stirling & Hale
The previous episodes of Santa Barbara Story 2009:
Part One: SB was Dumping Ground
Part Two: A New Sex Crime Ploy by Franciscans
Part Three: Money Available for Therapy for Victims
Part Four: Franciscan Grabbed Freshman by the Genitals
Part Five: Pedophilia is a Privacy Right for Franciscans
Barbara Story Part 7 coming very soon, Part 8 will be the yet another case filed last Fall.
Then Parts 9 and 10 on the Santa Barbara Story will concern the startling new information from Van Handel documents passed to us this week.
KEEP LEAKING
Please: Send City of Angels more stuff to post:
Documents, tapes, photographs, blue dresses or vestments with strange white stains.
I can't think of anything better for City of Angels to do than release documents that the Church is trying to keep the public from seeing.
So keep mailing them, keep delivering them, keep emailing them.
I got nothing but time...
,
Onward...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Priest Takes Boys on a Drunken Camping Trip to Yosemite. Santa Barbara Story Part 8, wait until you see Parts 9 and 10
We continue to run direct quotes from two lawsuits filed Fall 2009 regarding priests at St. Anthony's Seminary, which closed in 1987.
Then someone handed me a piece of evidence from a 1990s lawsuit against those same Franciscans, this a "sexual diary" of Van Handel. After we post documents concerning a third lawsuit, from another adult victim of the Franciscans of St. Anthony's Seminary, we will have figured out what to do with the contents of the sexual diary. The document was apparently copied and passed around a bit during the early 1990s, I guess before Church attorneys realized they better scrounge everything up and find a way to con-vince a judge to keep everything sealed. I'm reading it now, a few pages at a time as it is hard to take. This is what I read this morning, from the period early 1980s when the predator priest was Rector of the high school for boys, expect more to come soon:
Van Handel wrote: "A Franciscan priest and former faculty member was accused of molesting two young men while they were students at St. Anthony's. Not only was I best of friends wiwth this family, but unknown to them at the time, I had molested the same two boys when they were in choir, by tickling them and touching their genitals. Now I was expected to console the families, deal with the anger of the parents, because the offender was in the faculty."
In a state Van Handel goes to his therapist: "I explained in general terms the state of my life. He helped me to pull out of my depression, but I don't think I ever really completely recovered." Nice to know the adults were all so concerned about each other while the children were being raped. Here is Santa Barbara Part 6:
[In the 1980s, seeking refuge from a broken home, Ernesto becomes an altar boy and dreams of becoming a priest. He ends up living in a nightmare when he goes away to high school at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara. A Franciscan would mishandle him in the hallways "on a sometimes weekly basis." Then two Franciscan perpetrators take Ernesto and another boy for a camping trip to Yosemite, the experience in the tent haunts Ernesto to this day. Ernesto's experience is documented here in the words from another lawsuit. Here is Part 6 of the Santa Barbara story (2009), direct quotes from First Amended Complaint in Case 1337577 filed October 5, 2009 in Santa Barbara Superior Court (more attribution below):]
10. Plaintiff Ernesto C. grew up in Richmond, CA, and was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. They attended Mass every Sunday and Ernesto served as an altar boy. He began attending Catholic School in sixth grade, and soon thereafter decided he wanted to become a priest. During 8th grade he applied to several seminaries, ultimately deciding on St. Anthony’s.
Like so many victims of clergy abuse he also was the product of a broken home. The absence of a father figure in his life made Ernesto all the more dependent on paternal figures such as priests, and made him all the more vulnerable to predators willing to exploit this void in Ernesto’s life. St. Anthony’s was home to a horrific number of such predators.
***************
Franciscan perpetrator Dave Johnson was everywhere at the school, he'd wrestle with them ...
**************************>
When Ernesto enrolled at St. Anthony’s for his freshman year in 1979, it was immediately clear Franciscan perpetrator Dave Johnson was everywhere at the school, and was permitted to have extensive and inappropriate physical contact with students. Johnson openly touched and massaged students, wrestled with them, and engaged in regular physical contact with students in public places.
Such conduct between students and faculty was part of the accepted culture created and fostered by the Franciscans at St. Anthony’s. During Ernesto’s sophomore year in 1980-81 he was a frequent recipient of Johnson’s abusive conduct.
On a sometimes weekly basis that year Johnson would approach from behind and without invitation massage Ernesto’s shoulders when walking down the halls. Johnson was openly and inappropriately affectionate towards Ernesto, and was observed massaging Ernesto’s chest while in public on school grounds. During Spring break of this school year Johnson escalated his conduct into more extreme abuse.
Johnson asked Ernesto and another student, Victim #850, to go camping at Yosemite with Johnson and another perpetrator, Br. Berard Connolly. The entire school and faculty were aware that these two men were taking the two boys on an overnight trip as, at least amongst the students, Ernesto and Victim #85 were considered lucky and cool to have been chosen.
*************
A Drunken Trip to Yosemite, with at least two sexual assaults: Two Perps and two Teenage Boys ...
**********************
No efforts were made by the Franciscans to stop the trip from happening, and the four left from the school without objection by the Franciscans. The two men and the two boys drove to Yosemite in a school van. Ernesto remembers thinking it was a bit strange he and Victim #85 had been invited as they were not friends.
The fact they had been targeted for abuse never crossed Ernesto’s mind. At the campground there were two tents, with Victim #85 and Connolly in one, and Johnson and Ernesto in the other.
Over the next two days Johnson sexually assaulted Ernesto on at least two occasions, including an assault while hiking and another the first night in the tent they shared.
Before the assault in the tent the four had been sitting around the campfire. Connolly and Victim #85 eventually went to their own tent and Ernesto found himself alone with Johnson. After they left Johnson smiled and said "I’ve got a surprise for you, " pulling out a bottle of Bacardi.
******************
The fact Johnson now wanted to provide him with alcohol to celebrate something they accomplished together made Ernesto feel special
*******************************
Ernesto was euphoric, believing Johnson meant this as a celebration for their having completed a long hike together earlier that day. Ernesto looked up to Johnson as a spiritual counselor, an authority figure, and, most important, as someone who spoke with the voice of God. Johnson in many ways filled the paternal void created when Ernesto’s father abandoned their family.
The fact Johnson now wanted to provide him with alcohol to celebrate something they accomplished together made Ernesto feel special, and provided Ernesto with feelings of paternal validation he had long craved. Johnson handed the bottle to the boy and induced him to drink about half the bottle.
Once Ernesto was very inebriated, Johnson walked the boy to the tent where Ernesto fell face-first onto his sleeping bag, drunk, groggy and wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. Johnson had other plans.
Knowing he had rendered the boy into a vulnerable state Johnson exploited the situation and sexually assaulted Ernesto. Ernesto recalls struggling against the assault, hearing the noise of the struggle from the rustling of the sleeping bags, but being too groggy and intoxicated to stop the abuse by the much bigger and stronger man.
Ernesto was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family that idolized priests, was taught by Defendants to trust, revere and obey priests as God’s representatives on earth, and had enrolled at St. Anthony’s with the dream of himself becoming a priest. Ernesto also was the product of a broken home and was desperate for paternal validation. Johnson exploited these things to manipulate Ernesto, who was approximately fifteen (15) years of age.
When Johnson showered Ernesto with praise and affection while grooming him for abuse, Ernesto was euphoric at receiving such long-craved paternal attention from a man he considered the voice of God and thus infallible. When Johnson’s grooming became sexual abuse Ernesto’s subconscious was unwilling and unable to recognize the wrongfulness of Johnson’s conduct as doing so would have destroyed his long-held faith in the infallibility of Roman Catholic priests.
It also would have ripped away the newfound paternal validation that he craved and that Johnson had mercilessly recognized and exploited during the grooming process.
***************
To this day there remain parts of Johnson’s assault in the tent that he has been unable to recall
**************************
As a result, when the abuse began Ernesto was overwhelmed with shock and confusion. Unable to acknowledge that this man he had been groomed to trust, admire and depend on was sexually assaulting him, Ernesto shut-down and disconnected, dissociating himself from the horror of what was taking place and repressing all memory of the abuse. It was not until many years later that Ernesto began to recover memories of Johnson’s abuse.
To this day there remain parts of Johnson’s assault in the tent that he has been unable to recall, and he still has no memory of waking up the next morning. In an illustration of both his desperation for a trusted father figure and the strength of his repression he recalls having a special feeling towards Johnson the morning after the assault, as if they were family and shared a strong familial connection.
He recalls thinking it was nice to have such a wonderful connection with a father-figure who Ernesto also considered a brother in the Lord. Ernesto has been able to recall little of the remainder of the trip. He knows they spent a second night at the camp, but has been unable to recall what occurred.
**************
Ernesto even asked his perpetrator Johnson to officiate at his wedding in 1985 (something we've seen in many cases around the country, that attachment...)
*******************
Further illustration of the extent of the repression of the memory of the abuse is the fact until relatively recently Ernesto considered Johnson a special person in his life. Ernesto asked Johnson to officiate at his wedding in 1985, wrote Johnson for guidance, felt compelled to share with Johnson in approximately 1998 the fact he (Ernesto) had a profound religious experience at a Cursillos, and as recently as 2000 or 2001 felt compelled to tell Johnson he loved him (Johnson) as a brother in the Lord.
When contacted by an investigator in the late 1990s and asked whether he had been abused at St. Anthony’s, Ernesto was adamant in stating he had not. It was not until Ernesto began to recover these memories that he realized Johnson, his perceived savior, had crossed the line into sexual abuse. As a result of his reverence for Johnson and his repression of memories of the abuse Ernesto could not understand the wrongfulness of Johnson’s conduct, and internalized feelings of shame, self-blame, and self-loathing, while blocking out and dissociating from those feelings, rendering him unable to perceive the injuries he suffered from Johnson’s abusive conduct and its effect on his lifeAfter the abuse Ernesto’s life began a downward spiral.
Without understanding his own behavior, Ernesto rebelled against authority figures and abused alcohol and drugs. The alcohol abuse went on for decades, and remains a continuing challenge for Ernesto. In the summer of 2006, Ernesto’s abuse-related self-medication with alcohol had grown so out of control that he began treatment for alcoholism that required substantial self-analysis and introspection. It was during this process that Ernesto first realized Johnson’s abuse had caused him injury. He also began for the first time to understand his own feelings surrounding the abuse, how the abuse has affected him, and how it continues to affect him.
Prior to the summer of 2006, Ernesto did not know or understand his own feelings regarding the abuse, much less that it had caused him injuries as an adult.
***************
Stories in this Santa Barbara series are copied word for word from First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court, Case Numbers 1338070 filed November 3, and 1337577 filed October 5, 2009. filed by
Law firm of Nye Peabody Stirling & Hale
The previous episodes of Santa Barbara Story 2009:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Continued in Santa Barbara Story Part 7 soon
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
No attorneys allowed at Cathedral High School meetings of students with Christian Brothers staff
*
By Kay Ebeling
We have placed a call to Brother John Montgomery, the Principal, but so far he hasn't called back to explain Cathedral High School's policy of denying students a right to legal counsel when meeting with school officials. Yesterday, a City of Angels reader sent us the link to the Parent-Student Handbook because he found something "truly troubling" in the policy at the Christian Brothers run school for boys in Los Angeles.
"Since threatening or actually taking legal action against the school is indicative of an adversarial relationship," the Handbook says, "the Principal reserves the right to dismiss a student whose parent(s) or other party pursue such action on behalf of the student."
The reader emailed legitimate concerns: "So if a child is sexually abused by a faculty member at Cathedral High School and the parents hire an attorney, the student can be expelled simply because someone on his behalf hired an attorney? How does this protect children?"
Go here: Student Handbook and click on "Disciplinary Sanctions" and you will find, it says, "An attorney or legal counsel is not permitted to be present in any meeting" with an official from the school. In other words a student whose parents hire an attorney to deal with the school will be expelled. Here is the quote:
"Parent Cooperation and Legal Counsel
• To foster a spirit of trust and cooperation, an attorney or legal counsel is not permitted to be present in any meeting with the Dean of Students, Principal or any school official. In addition, any parent who violates the spirit of cooperation with the school, as determined by the Principal, is subject to having his/her son dismissed from the school.
• Since threatening or actually taking legal action against the school is indicative of an adversarial relationship, the Principal reserves the right to dismiss a student whose parent(s) or other party pursue such action on behalf of the student."
We are waiting now for a call back from the school to explain.
Looks to me like they want to intimidate students into not even considering legal action, no matter what they are subject to at the hands of the Christian Brothers-
The Church's continuing efforts to improve relations between the crime victims and its pedophile priests again proves to be more PR Pap than fact.
ke
By Kay Ebeling
We have placed a call to Brother John Montgomery, the Principal, but so far he hasn't called back to explain Cathedral High School's policy of denying students a right to legal counsel when meeting with school officials. Yesterday, a City of Angels reader sent us the link to the Parent-Student Handbook because he found something "truly troubling" in the policy at the Christian Brothers run school for boys in Los Angeles.
"Since threatening or actually taking legal action against the school is indicative of an adversarial relationship," the Handbook says, "the Principal reserves the right to dismiss a student whose parent(s) or other party pursue such action on behalf of the student."
The reader emailed legitimate concerns: "So if a child is sexually abused by a faculty member at Cathedral High School and the parents hire an attorney, the student can be expelled simply because someone on his behalf hired an attorney? How does this protect children?"
Go here: Student Handbook and click on "Disciplinary Sanctions" and you will find, it says, "An attorney or legal counsel is not permitted to be present in any meeting" with an official from the school. In other words a student whose parents hire an attorney to deal with the school will be expelled. Here is the quote:
"Parent Cooperation and Legal Counsel
• To foster a spirit of trust and cooperation, an attorney or legal counsel is not permitted to be present in any meeting with the Dean of Students, Principal or any school official. In addition, any parent who violates the spirit of cooperation with the school, as determined by the Principal, is subject to having his/her son dismissed from the school.
• Since threatening or actually taking legal action against the school is indicative of an adversarial relationship, the Principal reserves the right to dismiss a student whose parent(s) or other party pursue such action on behalf of the student."
We are waiting now for a call back from the school to explain.
Looks to me like they want to intimidate students into not even considering legal action, no matter what they are subject to at the hands of the Christian Brothers-
The Church's continuing efforts to improve relations between the crime victims and its pedophile priests again proves to be more PR Pap than fact.
ke
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sexual Autobiography notes
"Detective McGraw submitted a document the defendant pre
PER ANOTHER SOURCE:
"While working at the closed seminary between 1990 and 1994, I also lived on the property. I lived in the Casa with Van Handel. Van Handel's bedroom was next to the living room. Van Handel, the woman and myself would always socialize in the living room during her visits. Van Handel was the first to leave the living room and enter his bedroom. A short while later, Van Handel would call her to enter the room where he waited for her. It was at this time that she would walk into that room and close the door behind her.
You know what was strange about the door to that room? Whenever Van Handel would leave town on a trip somewhere, he would put a tiny padlock on the door so nobody would enter. It was like one of those tiny locks that people put on their luggage
************
From Megan's Law Website:
Robert Van Handel
Last Known Address:
15705 HWY 9 GARAGEBOULDER CREEK, 95006
County: SANTA CRUZ
Zip Code: 95006
Date of Birth: 04-02-1947
Sex: MALE
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 173
Eye Color: GREEN
Hair Color: GRAY
Ethnicity: WHITE
a straining out of those who were not suitable. senior class had thirty members, freshman class a hundred.\\
not accepted in choir
not accepted as an altar boy
praying to stop a wet dream
5 foot 1, 105 pounds as a freshman
Retreat with Carl Rogers - a whole new way of relating
Van Handel was treated at the St. Luke Institute in Suitland, Md., from May 1992 until June 1993. His family hired a lawyer to represent him after provincial officials said they could not afford to hire legal representation because of the expenses they incurred in paying for therapy for victims and their families
Curious that this is nearly the exact same activity I would perform ten to fifteen years later
Says around 1971 he did try twice to get help from a "Franciscan counsellor" who deflected him. As soon as he mentioned an attraction to little boys, the counsellor acted like Van Handel meant he wished he had more time for other work, like with the elderly... then changed the subject, "So how is your master's thesis going."
Wanted to study education in SF to be an elem school teacher, but Friars made him obey and go to St. Anthony's as they needed a teacher. VH did not like the way Anthony's being run...did not want to go... (His version)
For Boys Choir "recruited boys from area churches and schools." "separated myself from the other Franciscans"
**********
ME: As he describes telling special (good singer) boys they would have to spend time in rehearsals alone with him, I remembered that excited feeling, where the perp picks you out of a crowd, that subtle eye contact, that heart upbeat in my chest, the sensation between the legs so new to a little girl. I remembered the feeling but now reading a perp priest describe how he did it, causes me to be re-positioned. Maybe finally I will stop...
NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES:
SafeNet says in 2006 that VH now
lives in Santa Cruz
SOURCE: These were public documents at one time or another.
This is the sexual autobiography. You can see the cyclical nature of this stuff. Van handel is abused in the school infirmary, and years later participates in abuse in the infirmary again when he becomes an adult and a perp (remember the current case where the student was called down to the infirmary and is greeted by Van Handel telling him he's there for a medical exam by another friar who then proceeded to fondle and digitally penetrate the student?).
not accepted in choir
not accepted as an altar boy
praying to stop a wet dream
5 foot 1, 105 pounds as a freshman
Retreat with Carl Rogers - a whole new way of relating
Van Handel was treated at the St. Luke Institute in Suitland, Md., from May 1992 until June 1993. His family hired a lawyer to represent him after provincial officials said they could not afford to hire legal representation because of the expenses they incurred in paying for therapy for victims and their families
Curious that this is nearly the exact same activity I would perform ten to fifteen years later
Says around 1971 he did try twice to get help from a "Franciscan counsellor" who deflected him. As soon as he mentioned an attraction to little boys, the counsellor acted like Van Handel meant he wished he had more time for other work, like with the elderly... then changed the subject, "So how is your master's thesis going."
Wanted to study education in SF to be an elem school teacher, but Friars made him obey and go to St. Anthony's as they needed a teacher. VH did not like the way Anthony's being run...did not want to go... (His version)
For Boys Choir "recruited boys from area churches and schools." "separated myself from the other Franciscans"
**********
ME: As he describes telling special (good singer) boys they would have to spend time in rehearsals alone with him, I remembered that excited feeling, where the perp picks you out of a crowd, that subtle eye contact, that heart upbeat in my chest, the sensation between the legs so new to a little girl. I remembered the feeling but now reading a perp priest describe how he did it, causes me to be re-positioned. Maybe finally I will stop...
NOTES FROM OTHER PLACES:
SafeNet says in 2006 that VH now
lives in Santa Cruz
SOURCE: These were public documents at one time or another.
This is the sexual autobiography. You can see the cyclical nature of this stuff. Van handel is abused in the school infirmary, and years later participates in abuse in the infirmary again when he becomes an adult and a perp (remember the current case where the student was called down to the infirmary and is greeted by Van Handel telling him he's there for a medical exam by another friar who then proceeded to fondle and digitally penetrate the student?).
88888888888
Background from 2009 at City of Angels:
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
The Franciscan grabbed the freshman by the testicles and instructed the boy to cough as if it were a hernia exam. Just another day of Seminary Life.
.Franciscan friars with no medical training tested boys for "undescended testacles" at St. Anthony's high school seminary in the 1960s and '70s, as revealed in a new lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara last month and reported here in Part 4 of the Santa Barbara Story November 2009 here at City of Angels. Soon after the testicle exam, an assault by a group of unruly Franciscan friars fills out the plaintiff's first year of high school, apparently just another part of life at the seminary. The legal documents in pedophile priest rape episodes again speak for themselves. Here are more direct quotes from: First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Case Number 1338070 filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court November 3, 2009. Assault During a Physical Exam in the School Infirmary, from First Amended Complaint Case #1338070: "Although initially thrilled to be so far away from his abusive home, the situation for Plaintiff at St. Anthony’s degenerated quickly. Specifically, within a month or two of school starting Plaintiff was called to the infirmary. Upon arriving Plaintiff observed notorious perpetrator Father Robert Van Handel sitting near an infirmary bed, along with another Franciscan he did not recognize. Van Handel then informed Plaintiff he was there 'for a check-up.
The Franciscan grabbed the freshman by the testicles and instructed the boy to cough as if it were a hernia exam. Just another day of Seminary Life.
.Franciscan friars with no medical training tested boys for "undescended testacles" at St. Anthony's high school seminary in the 1960s and '70s, as revealed in a new lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara last month and reported here in Part 4 of the Santa Barbara Story November 2009 here at City of Angels. Soon after the testicle exam, an assault by a group of unruly Franciscan friars fills out the plaintiff's first year of high school, apparently just another part of life at the seminary. The legal documents in pedophile priest rape episodes again speak for themselves. Here are more direct quotes from: First Amended Complaint for Damages and Relief, Case Number 1338070 filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court November 3, 2009. Assault During a Physical Exam in the School Infirmary, from First Amended Complaint Case #1338070: "Although initially thrilled to be so far away from his abusive home, the situation for Plaintiff at St. Anthony’s degenerated quickly. Specifically, within a month or two of school starting Plaintiff was called to the infirmary. Upon arriving Plaintiff observed notorious perpetrator Father Robert Van Handel sitting near an infirmary bed, along with another Franciscan he did not recognize. Van Handel then informed Plaintiff he was there 'for a check-up.
PER ANOTHER SOURCE:
"While working at the closed seminary between 1990 and 1994, I also lived on the property. I lived in the Casa with Van Handel. Van Handel's bedroom was next to the living room. Van Handel, the woman and myself would always socialize in the living room during her visits. Van Handel was the first to leave the living room and enter his bedroom. A short while later, Van Handel would call her to enter the room where he waited for her. It was at this time that she would walk into that room and close the door behind her.
You know what was strange about the door to that room? Whenever Van Handel would leave town on a trip somewhere, he would put a tiny padlock on the door so nobody would enter. It was like one of those tiny locks that people put on their luggage
************
From Megan's Law Website:
Robert Van Handel
Last Known Address:
15705 HWY 9 GARAGEBOULDER CREEK, 95006
County: SANTA CRUZ
Zip Code: 95006
Date of Birth: 04-02-1947
Sex: MALE
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 173
Eye Color: GREEN
Hair Color: GRAY
Ethnicity: WHITE
Comment at Sacramento Bee this morning.
We have found six thousand (6000!) Catholic priests who raped children since 1950 in the U.S. Do you really think their superiors didn't know what was going on? The problem of the Church isn't better P.R. like letting the world know about their new programas. What we need is to turn the Catholic Church upside down, and shake all the criminal opportunities out of it. Get rid of sacristies, confessionals, men in skirts, secret caverns, secret files, and let priests behave like other humans not like celibate saints. There are SO MANY problems in the church that resulted in a pedophile epidemic, and I WISH reporters would start doing more than calling spokesmen and then repeating their quotes in articles and calling it news.
(Someone called me anti-Catholic and challenged the number six thousand, so I wrote:)
I'm one of the victims, and whatever happens to the Church is not important to me. I care about thousands of unprosecuted sex crimes. Yes the number will go over 6000 this year per the John Jay study. BA database has additional requirements, so now their number is 3300.
I'm concerned that Church PR is going full steam now to point a finger at other religions.
Whatever happens to the Church in the end is not important. Whan an institution can turn six thousand pedophiles loose on the population, not just parishes, the entire United states was at risk.
We need accountability. This has nothing to do with religion.
(The Sac Bee cut it after "full steam now" and I gotta get back to work on "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" Season 3 ... by the way, the reason all these women did not know they were pregnant is:
Bad public education
Bad medical care
In one case after another, but that is SUCH a side trip.)
We have found six thousand (6000!) Catholic priests who raped children since 1950 in the U.S. Do you really think their superiors didn't know what was going on? The problem of the Church isn't better P.R. like letting the world know about their new programas. What we need is to turn the Catholic Church upside down, and shake all the criminal opportunities out of it. Get rid of sacristies, confessionals, men in skirts, secret caverns, secret files, and let priests behave like other humans not like celibate saints. There are SO MANY problems in the church that resulted in a pedophile epidemic, and I WISH reporters would start doing more than calling spokesmen and then repeating their quotes in articles and calling it news.
(Someone called me anti-Catholic and challenged the number six thousand, so I wrote:)
I'm one of the victims, and whatever happens to the Church is not important to me. I care about thousands of unprosecuted sex crimes. Yes the number will go over 6000 this year per the John Jay study. BA database has additional requirements, so now their number is 3300.
I'm concerned that Church PR is going full steam now to point a finger at other religions.
Whatever happens to the Church in the end is not important. Whan an institution can turn six thousand pedophiles loose on the population, not just parishes, the entire United states was at risk.
We need accountability. This has nothing to do with religion.
(The Sac Bee cut it after "full steam now" and I gotta get back to work on "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" Season 3 ... by the way, the reason all these women did not know they were pregnant is:
Bad public education
Bad medical care
In one case after another, but that is SUCH a side trip.)
Monday, January 18, 2010
I took my son to the bishop. I said, you broke him you fix him. They said, not our problem as perp a Franciscan. Now my son is dead
.
By Kay Ebeling
"I would like to see the Legislature provide a 'window' for those who have been abused as children. And I would be grateful if it was named Arthur's Law after our son 'Arthur III.'"
The day Pennsylvania passed a law that worked against most victims of pedophile priests in the state, Arthur Baselice III left the house for an NA meeting. Next morning police found him dead in a drug house in nearby Camden, New Jersey.
(Pictured Arthur Baselice III (1978-2006)
Months earlier Arthur II had brought his son to the Philadelphia Archdiocese begging them for help. “This kid couldn't even walk,” said the dad. “We went in there and poured our hearts out. They told me they can’t help me. The perpetrator is not part of a Roman Catholic diocese, he’s Franciscan.”
More slaps in the face: The only time Fr. Charles Newman ever stood in front of a judge was for Embezzlement from the Catholic Church. He stole cash to buy drugs and other extravagances for the boys he was grooming, and the pedophile priest went to prison for embezzlement, not pedophilia. He pled guilty March 2009 and is serving a 3-6 year sentence.
"When my son was an altar boy, Newman gave him opiods so he’d go into a haze while the priest raped him, sodomized him," Arthur II said. "Then for about a decade, the priest gave the boy wads of cash, thousands of dollars, which unfortunately but predictably, the boy used to buy drugs. By the time he was in his early twenties, he was a hopeless drug addict, then he... Arthur III is dead now, of an opiod overdose."
In 2006, the Baselice's lobbied the state Legislature, but so did the Catholic Church and “Pennsylvania changed the reporting age from 18 to 35 but didn't do anything for those who were in the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report,” Arthur II said. “They provided an escape for the perpetrators. Removed liability for the Church.
“My son died the day they passed that law.”
November 2009 Arthur II emailed City of Angels a copy of a letter he sent to all the Legislators in Pennsylvania:
Respectfully I am writing to you to request that you obtain a copy of the November 2009 issue of the "Philadelphia Magazine" or go on line and read the article written by Mr. Richard Rys entitled "Sins of the Father", it is important that you read this article and the comments offered on line.
This article will give you a brief glimpse of the pain and suffering my wife Elaine and I go through everyday after losing our son "Arthur III " as a result of clergy sexual abuse.
The current law does not go far enough to identify the abusers and hold those accountable who enabled these perpetrators as outlined in the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report. It is well documented that the church abused its power and authority because bishops wanted to protect the church’s reputation at the expense of the victims.
The current law only provided an escape for the abusers. I strongly urge you to work for legislation to open a "Window" that would identify the perpetrators by allowing the victims to come forward.
I don’t believe it is necessary to recite what evil behavior the Catholic Church engaged in. As it stands now there are perpetrators in the community who have escaped criminal charges, do you know where they are and what they are doing ?
If you have a conscience and want to address the needs of your constituents you need to hold the individuals, groups, and organizations accountable by opening this "WINDOW".
I look forward to your response.
Respectfully,
Arthur J. Baselice Jr.
***********
Here is link to Baselice Story in Philadelphia Magazine Nov. 2009 issue, available to read online:
FROM THE PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE STORY:
“The concept of 'justice' is out of my reach for now," Baselice wrote, "as the 'Catholic Church' uses its resources and far reaching power to influence those who can make a difference.”
We arranged to interview him by phone.
He said, “I got disgusted because I went to the Archdiocese with my son. This kid couldn't even walk. We went in there and poured our hearts out, I said, you broke him, you fix him. They told me they can’t help me because the perpetrator is not Roman Catholic he’s a Franciscan.”
Then Fr. Charles Newman went to jail for embezzlement instead of pedophilia:
“I am angry and full of hate and resentment and the only way I will ever gain any type of satisfaction and relief is if and when the abusers and enablers are compelled to say what they knew and when they knew,” Baselice II emailed
Baselice works fulltime.
In law enforcement.
And not a day goes by that he doesn't think about taking action.
ACTION
In the name of his son.
“What I would like to see happen is that the Pennsylvania Legislature enact a law that would provide a 'window' for those who have been abused by anyone.
"And I would be grateful if the window was named after our son, 'Arthur III.'
“There isn’t a day that my mind isn’t racing about how they desecrated him as a human being.
“It’s an accepted way to do business. If we do salvation, somebody’s kid has got to suffer.
"The clergy, wat I see is as long as they can keep the victim from coming forward until the statute of limitations expires, they'll deny deny deny and then only when certain things can be proven, then they'll admit bits and pieces.
“I don't have my son anymore why. He died because somebody took advantage of him who claimed to represent God.
“There’s nothing the Archdiocese can say to me. They can’t tell me they're sorry because they don't know what I'm going through, and I'm not interested in rhetorical statements.
“Newman was giving my son Oxycontin when he was fourteen. He left the house to go to an NA meeting. Then instead that night he was dead.”
******************
FROM PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE:
. . . . . . . .
ACTION
“The first Friday every month I go to a vigil in front of the Archdiocese and stand there with a picture of my son. I have been going there for three years.
“The church uses its money to block legislation.
"The church, legislators, police department, they're all in deep.
“The founding fathers and the separation of church and state, whatever happened to them.
“They're liars, they scheme. They stand with a cross around their neck and they look at you and they lie. I don't understand it, are they twisted mentally. I mean they know they're going to die. Who do you think what's waiting for them.”
******************
AT SENTENCING of Newman for Embezzlement,
Arthur III's Mother, Elaine Baselice spoke:
**************
Re The law Pennsylvania passed in 2006 the day Arthur III died:
Arthur II says, “The Pennsylvania law provided a new time frame for some of the victims, but it did nothing for those that had been abused from the date of the Grand Jury Report, so it really didn't do anything.
"We need a window like they had in California, where they say we're not able to file criminal, but we're going to provide an opportunity for you to sit in court."
ACTION
So Arthur Baselice II (right) is now working for a new law, one like he and others hoped would pass in Pennsylvania on November 30, 2006, the day Arthur III died of an opiod overdose in a drug house in the slums of Camden. “I'm composing an email," his dad said. "I'm going to send it to everyone in the Pennsylvania Legislature asking them to open up a window like California and Delaware.
“And I'm asking that we call it Arthur’s Law.”
**********************
Read about Charles Newman in the Bishop Accountability Database.
(Photo at right from Erie.com shows Arthur II with his mother Elaine at a 2004 press conference).
FROM PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE STORY:
See more photos at the Memorial Site for Arthur Baselice III.
As the phone interview continued, Art said, "Arthur III died November 30th."
"Oh my god, that's three years ago today."
Not only is there angelic intervention, but also keep an eye out for cosmic hints.
By Kay Ebeling
"I would like to see the Legislature provide a 'window' for those who have been abused as children. And I would be grateful if it was named Arthur's Law after our son 'Arthur III.'"
(Pictured Arthur Baselice III (1978-2006)
Months earlier Arthur II had brought his son to the Philadelphia Archdiocese begging them for help. “This kid couldn't even walk,” said the dad. “We went in there and poured our hearts out. They told me they can’t help me. The perpetrator is not part of a Roman Catholic diocese, he’s Franciscan.”
More slaps in the face: The only time Fr. Charles Newman ever stood in front of a judge was for Embezzlement from the Catholic Church. He stole cash to buy drugs and other extravagances for the boys he was grooming, and the pedophile priest went to prison for embezzlement, not pedophilia. He pled guilty March 2009 and is serving a 3-6 year sentence.
"When my son was an altar boy, Newman gave him opiods so he’d go into a haze while the priest raped him, sodomized him," Arthur II said. "Then for about a decade, the priest gave the boy wads of cash, thousands of dollars, which unfortunately but predictably, the boy used to buy drugs. By the time he was in his early twenties, he was a hopeless drug addict, then he... Arthur III is dead now, of an opiod overdose."
In 2006, the Baselice's lobbied the state Legislature, but so did the Catholic Church and “Pennsylvania changed the reporting age from 18 to 35 but didn't do anything for those who were in the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report,” Arthur II said. “They provided an escape for the perpetrators. Removed liability for the Church.
“My son died the day they passed that law.”
November 2009 Arthur II emailed City of Angels a copy of a letter he sent to all the Legislators in Pennsylvania:
Respectfully I am writing to you to request that you obtain a copy of the November 2009 issue of the "Philadelphia Magazine" or go on line and read the article written by Mr. Richard Rys entitled "Sins of the Father", it is important that you read this article and the comments offered on line.
This article will give you a brief glimpse of the pain and suffering my wife Elaine and I go through everyday after losing our son "Arthur III " as a result of clergy sexual abuse.
The current law does not go far enough to identify the abusers and hold those accountable who enabled these perpetrators as outlined in the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report. It is well documented that the church abused its power and authority because bishops wanted to protect the church’s reputation at the expense of the victims.
The current law only provided an escape for the abusers. I strongly urge you to work for legislation to open a "Window" that would identify the perpetrators by allowing the victims to come forward.
I don’t believe it is necessary to recite what evil behavior the Catholic Church engaged in. As it stands now there are perpetrators in the community who have escaped criminal charges, do you know where they are and what they are doing ?
If you have a conscience and want to address the needs of your constituents you need to hold the individuals, groups, and organizations accountable by opening this "WINDOW".
I look forward to your response.
Respectfully,
Arthur J. Baselice Jr.
***********
Here is link to Baselice Story in Philadelphia Magazine Nov. 2009 issue, available to read online:
FROM THE PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE STORY:
“The concept of 'justice' is out of my reach for now," Baselice wrote, "as the 'Catholic Church' uses its resources and far reaching power to influence those who can make a difference.”
We arranged to interview him by phone.
He said, “I got disgusted because I went to the Archdiocese with my son. This kid couldn't even walk. We went in there and poured our hearts out, I said, you broke him, you fix him. They told me they can’t help me because the perpetrator is not Roman Catholic he’s a Franciscan.”
Then Fr. Charles Newman went to jail for embezzlement instead of pedophilia:
PHILADELPHIA -- A priest who led the largest Roman Catholic high school in Philadelphia stole $900,000 and used some of it to ply a student he had molested with drugs and alcohol, prosecutors said Thursday.(December 2007)
Prosecutors believe that Newman sexually abused at least three or four other underage students during his time at Archbishop Ryan, where he spent nine years as principal and 13 years as a religion teacher before his promotion to president.
After his dismissal from the school, Newman was treated for pedophilia at an archdiocesan treatment center and now lives at a Franciscan retirement home in Pulaski, Wis., according to the indictment. He remains a restricted member of the order, Abraham said.
From Erie Dot Com
“I am angry and full of hate and resentment and the only way I will ever gain any type of satisfaction and relief is if and when the abusers and enablers are compelled to say what they knew and when they knew,” Baselice II emailed
Baselice works fulltime.
In law enforcement.
And not a day goes by that he doesn't think about taking action.
ACTION
In the name of his son.
“What I would like to see happen is that the Pennsylvania Legislature enact a law that would provide a 'window' for those who have been abused by anyone.
"And I would be grateful if the window was named after our son, 'Arthur III.'
“There isn’t a day that my mind isn’t racing about how they desecrated him as a human being.
“It’s an accepted way to do business. If we do salvation, somebody’s kid has got to suffer.
"The clergy, wat I see is as long as they can keep the victim from coming forward until the statute of limitations expires, they'll deny deny deny and then only when certain things can be proven, then they'll admit bits and pieces.
“I don't have my son anymore why. He died because somebody took advantage of him who claimed to represent God.
“There’s nothing the Archdiocese can say to me. They can’t tell me they're sorry because they don't know what I'm going through, and I'm not interested in rhetorical statements.
“Newman was giving my son Oxycontin when he was fourteen. He left the house to go to an NA meeting. Then instead that night he was dead.”
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FROM PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE:
. . . . . . . .
ACTION
“The first Friday every month I go to a vigil in front of the Archdiocese and stand there with a picture of my son. I have been going there for three years.
“The church uses its money to block legislation.
"The church, legislators, police department, they're all in deep.
“The founding fathers and the separation of church and state, whatever happened to them.
“They're liars, they scheme. They stand with a cross around their neck and they look at you and they lie. I don't understand it, are they twisted mentally. I mean they know they're going to die. Who do you think what's waiting for them.”
******************
AT SENTENCING of Newman for Embezzlement,
Arthur III's Mother, Elaine Baselice spoke:
Speaking before Newman, 58, was sentenced to three to six years in prison, Elaine Baselice told Common Pleas Court Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastasi that Newman seduced her son with money for drugs and alcohol.
"Newman had me believing that my son was full of demons," Elaine Baselice told the judge. "Today, standing in this courtroom, I am face to face with the real demon."
Her husband called Newman the "ambassador of the devil."
From Philadelphia Inquirer story May 22 2009
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Re The law Pennsylvania passed in 2006 the day Arthur III died:
Arthur II says, “The Pennsylvania law provided a new time frame for some of the victims, but it did nothing for those that had been abused from the date of the Grand Jury Report, so it really didn't do anything.
"We need a window like they had in California, where they say we're not able to file criminal, but we're going to provide an opportunity for you to sit in court."
ACTION
So Arthur Baselice II (right) is now working for a new law, one like he and others hoped would pass in Pennsylvania on November 30, 2006, the day Arthur III died of an opiod overdose in a drug house in the slums of Camden. “I'm composing an email," his dad said. "I'm going to send it to everyone in the Pennsylvania Legislature asking them to open up a window like California and Delaware.“And I'm asking that we call it Arthur’s Law.”
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Read about Charles Newman in the Bishop Accountability Database.
(Photo at right from Erie.com shows Arthur II with his mother Elaine at a 2004 press conference).FROM PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE STORY:
See more photos at the Memorial Site for Arthur Baselice III.
As the phone interview continued, Art said, "Arthur III died November 30th."
"Oh my god, that's three years ago today."
Not only is there angelic intervention, but also keep an eye out for cosmic hints.
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