Weekly Story on Bishop Brown Pedophile Allegation Proven Right

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Posted by R. Scott Moxley in Breaking News, Crime & Sex, Ex Cathedra, Main, Moxley

September 13, 2007 12:06 PM

Permalink | Comments (3)

Five months ago, OC Weekly's Gustavo Arellano broke the news that despite his promises of complete public accountability on the Catholic Church sex scandals, Bishop Tod Brown himself continued to hide accusations that he molested a 12-year-old boy in the 1960s.

According to subsequent court transcripts, Orange diocese attorney Peter Callahan snorted that the Weekly's reporting couldn't be trusted because the paper is distributed at coffeehouses and carries massage ads*. Callahan predicted the "legitimate press" would ignore Arellano's story.

But today, Rachanee Srisavasdi of The Orange County Register--which also runs massage ads!*--reported:

Bishop Tod Brown testified under oath that he was accused of molesting a boy while he was a priest at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, but that he didn't report it because he found it embarrassing...

Srisavasdi got her story after Brown's deposition was unsealed this morning in part of an ongoing sex-abuse lawsuit.

Church officials and their lawyers had attempted to block public access to the deposition by claiming they were concerned about the privacy of the alleged victim.

Arellano (pictured) used a series of correspondence between the alleged victim and the church to help substantiate not just the existence of the controversy but that church officials were aware of it and determined to keep it hush hush.

*(Dear Mr. Callahan: I'd suggest it's far better to sell massage ads for consenting adults than shill shamelessly for a group of nasty old men determined to molest little girls and boys.)

Comments (3)

Mike says:
September 13, 2007 14:03

Dear Gustavo...I don't agree with or like most of what you write. That being said (and trust me...this hurts a little), good job. You've done fantastic work on the Catholic sex abuse stuff from the jump. There's a reason they want to play down and discredit what you say, and that's because you're right. You get your shit straight, you get the facts, and then you tell them to us. Thank you. I'm going to go scrub my fingers now.

Jerry says:
September 13, 2007 16:11

Gustavo,

I’ve found you as a person of question and can not stand that you have been so critical of our good church. This has been the only reason I have gone to that shitty coffee shop. Two things I've found, wile following this circus of a news story about our church.

1 You were right from the start!

That worries me as I've always seamed able to pick the needle out of the hay pile. I tip my hat to you and tell you” humbly” that I was wrong.

2 I like the people at the coffee shop. They are people that don't seam to be as pretentious as most.

I think my head was in the billows a little too long with work and church and family. My family now comes to the coffee shop, and the kids have chocolate milk.

Please take my apology and keep on writing from the heart. Your heart is going the right way.

My hart was clouded by the belief in a few bad apples in the church.
You've changed my life and my family’s life for the better. My eyes are open and I truly can see the light. Keep talking it took me a long wile to see you with the smoke that the church has been producing.

Victoria Martin says:
September 13, 2007 20:21

Once again we see how important the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press of the United States of America are to the welfare of our Democracy. But, to the chagrin of the Pope in Rome, (a man who has had the words, HEIL HITLER, on his lips) Bennie # 16 (aka, the pope) continues to criticize our GOD given right as a Free Republic, to print the truth, wherever it may lead. This latest news about Bishop Tod Brown does surprise me, because I considered Brown to be a man of honor and integrity. I do not know if these accusations of predatory perversion reported against him are true or false. I only know that he attempted to deceive the public and, specifically, the Faithful who deserve to know the truth. How, in this Information Age, did Bishop Brown expect to succeed in this deception? Go forth, Tod Borwn, In The Name of The Christ You Vowed To Honor And Serve And Speak The Truth For Once in Your Life. Be A Man. A TRUE Man Of GOD.

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