23 clergy sex cases are settled
They involve notorious predator
He molested in at least three states: MO, TX, & CO
Cleric often drugged boys and sodomized them in Catholic schools
SNAP says church, school, symphony and company should all do more to find his victims
Self help organization also warns parents who live near serial child molester to avoid his house
WHAT
At a news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will
-- announce a group settlement of 23 clergy sex civil sex abuse and cover up lawsuits involving a San Antonio man who taught at a local Catholic school,
-- urge church and school officials to more aggressively reach out to others he may have hurt, and
-- prod staff at two other organizations where he worked to do likewise
WHEN
TODAY, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2:00 p.m.
WHERE
Outside Central Catholic High School , 1403 N. St. Marys in San Antonion (210-344-9265)
WHO
Two members of a support groupo called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAPnetwork.org
WHY
An attorney is announcing the settlement of 23 clergy sex civil sex abuse and cover up lawsuits. They involve Brother William Mueller, a former Marianist cleric and teacher who worked and molested at Central Catholic School in San Antonio.
These cases all center on crimes Mueller committed at a Catholic school in Pueblo, Colorado. Mueller has also been sued for molesting teenagers in St. Louis and has been accused of molesting kids in Texas too.
In San Antonio, Mueller was band director at Central Catholic (from 1971 to 1981), then worked at the San Antonio Symphony, and then the Psychological Corporation, now known as Harcourt Assessment Inc. (from 1987 to 2002).
Mueller now lives at 8622 Zarzamora in San Antonio. SNAP members are urging families to avoid his house tomorrow on Halloween.
Attorneys Jeffrey M. Herman and Adam D. Horowitz. of Miami, Florida represented the 23 Colorado victims.
The Colorado lawsuits allege that Mueller abused boys between 1966 and 1971 in the band room of Roncalli High School. According to the lawsuits, Mueller told each of the students that he was performing a confidential experiment. Under the guise of this “experiment”, Mueller blindfolded the students and placed ether over their mouths to render them helpless and commit sexual abuse.
The evidence in these cases revealed that Mueller also abused numerous other students in the same manner while working for the Marianists for over 20 years at high schools in St. Louis and San Antonio.
SNAP believes that if more victims and witnesses come forward, Mueller might still be prosecuted and jailed. The group believes each of his former employers has a moral and civic duty to more aggressively seek out and help anyone he may have hurt.
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/10/30/news/local/doc4909914dce2ac481570152.txt
Contact:
Barbara Garcia Boehland, San Antonio SNAP director 210 725 8329
Attorneys Adam Horowitz 305-298-7713 & Jeffrey Herman 305-931-2200
David Clohessy of SNAP, 314 566 9790 cell
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sex abuse suits settled vs. priest accused of molesting in Chicago
For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008
Greek Orthodox church settles Dallas lawsuit alleging sex abuse by longtime priest
12:24 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Ex-Greek Orthodox priest accused of molesting boy in '70s
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell) We are grateful for these brave Texas boys who have helped expose a dangerous predator who also worked in Chicago. Unfortunately, Katinas still walks free, so we beg law enforcement officials to work harder to find anyone he has hurt so he can be prosecuted, convicted and jailed. We hope others who've been hurt by Katinas will find the strength and courage to come forward, get help, and take legal action so that others are protected. (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We've been around for 17 years and have more than 8,000 members across the country. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org) Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Peter Isely (414-429-7259) Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688),
Greek Orthodox church settles Dallas lawsuit alleging sex abuse by longtime priest
12:24 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 29, 2008
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News - samhodges@dallasnews.com
A lawsuit alleging child sex abuse by Nicholas Katinas, former pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in North Dallas, is headed for an out-of-court settlement.
"An agreement in principle has been reached," said Tahira Khan Merritt, lawyer for five plaintiffs, including former altar boys, who claimed they were abused by Mr. Katinas in the early years of his long tenure at Holy Trinity. "It's subject to court approval."
Ms. Merritt said she and lawyers for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America agreed to keep confidential the amount of the settlement. The settlement must be approved by State District Judge Karen Johnson.
Mr. Katinas was pastor of Holy Trinity, a key institution of the Dallas Greek community, for 28 years. Soon after his retirement in 2006, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America officials suspended him from working as a priest, even on a fill-in basis.
Later, a GOAA official came to Holy Trinity and acknowledged serious misconduct by Mr. Katinas.
He has since been defrocked and is reportedly living in Greece.
"The victims feel like they've done as much as they can to bring public exposure to Katinas' abuses," Ms. Merritt said. "Without the lawsuit being filed and public exposure to these issues, in my opinion, Katinas would not have been defrocked."
Mr. Katinas and the GOAA still face a more recently filed lawsuit filed in Chicago, alleging abuse by him while he worked for a church in the suburbs there.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-priest-accused-web-sep10,0,7167880.story
Ex-Greek Orthodox priest accused of molesting boy in '70s
- By Azam Ahmed |Chicago Tribune reporter
- 9:40 PM CDT, September 9, 2008
A 46-year-old Streamwood man has accused his former priest of sexually abusing him more than 30 years ago and Greek Orthodox church officials of attempting to cover it up, according to a lawsuit that marks the fifth allegation against the defrocked priest.
Nicholas Katinas, who is married, was pastor at Assumption Church in Olympia Fields from 1969 to 1978. The plaintiff, a former altar boy known as John Doe 124, said Katinas sexually abused him as a 15-year-old at the Olympia Fields church during 1977 and 1978. The suit also said three other boys in Katinas' congregation were abused by the priest.
Lawyers said church officials had reason to suspect Katinas, 73, of improper behavior with boys years before the plaintiff was abused, an important element of the lawsuit. By accusing the church of concealing the abuse, the plaintiff's lawyers are hoping to avoid the statute of limitations on the abuse allegations.
"They have done what we have so long complained about in the Catholic Church," said Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing the plaintiff. "They hide, shuffle and cover for [the abusers]. They kept that knowledge secret among themselves and they concealed it from police and parishioners."
Specifically, the lawsuit said the church knew of Katinas' behavior before he began to abuse the plaintiff, a piece of information that might have saved him from abuse. The lawsuit also said Katinas abused another altar boy younger than 18 on 10 to 12 occasions in the early 1970s. Another allegation is that Katinas attempted to assault a boy as young as 13 in spring 1974.
The lawsuit names Katinas, Assumption Church, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which presides over the Greek Orthodox Church in the U.S. and consists of 540 parishes, 800 priests and 1.5 million members.
"It was well known to the defendants . . . that a number of Greek Orthodox priests in and outside of the Chicago metropolis region [have] sexually abused minors before and during the time that Katinas abused the plaintiff," the lawsuit said. "Despite this knowledge, defendants . . . failed to adopt and implement pertinent preventative policies and procedures."
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America did not return calls seeking comment.
Katinas—who has not faced criminal charges—could not be reached for comment.
Many details gathered in the lawsuit are the result of interviews conducted for lawsuits against Katinas in Texas, where he was transferred in 1978.
Katinas spent almost three decades as a priest at Holy Trinity Church in Dallas before he was defrocked in 2006.
Lawyers said that during his tenure at Holy Trinity, Katinas abused at least four other boys. All have filed suit in Texas against the priest, lawyers said.
Katinas is believed to be living in Greece, where he went just before the lawsuits in Texas were announced, Anderson said.
The suit seeks more than $50,000 for the physical and psychological damages suffered by the plaintiff.
Halloween, say clergy victims, somber reminder of unregistered sex offenders
Halloween, say clergy victims, somber reminder of unregistered sex offenders
Asking Dolan to post this week addresses of Wisconsin clergy who sexually assaulted children
New legislation, however, would require by law that religious officials turn over abuse information
CONTACT
Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director, 414.429.7259
--Email to Archbishop Timothy Dolan posted below, Bill AB-949 attached--
In an email sent Friday to Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin victims of childhood sexual abuse are urging him to follow state authorities and publish this week the names and locations of all unregistered clergy determined by church officials to have molested children and take steps to ensure a safe Halloween for children.
Victims are also urging Dolan to support Wisconsin AB949, the Clergy Sex Abuse Registry Law, introduced at the end of the spring legislative term.
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2008
To: Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee
From: Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
Re: Halloween release of locations of unregistered clergy child sex offenders and AB949
Archbishop Dolan:
This Sunday, and throughout the week, Wisconsin correction officials around the nation will be keeping careful watch on registered sex offenders in our community. During this child friendly week of trick-or-treating, law enforcement representatives here and around the nation will be making random visits to offender’s homes, establishing a 5:00 p.m. curfew, requiring a “no candy” sign to be placed on doors, and holding mandatory Halloween treatment sessions.
While such measures are welcome, statistics shows that only 1 out of every 10 sex offenders are known to the public, with nearly 90 percent unreported to law enforcement. This group would include, of course, the over 5,000 sex offenders admitted by the Roman Catholic bishops to have molested children over the past several decades. In the Milwaukee archdiocese alone, some 60 diocesan and religious order clergy have assaulted children or minors.
This coming week would be an excellent time to show your commitment to the protection of God’s children and finally publish, along with your fellow bishops from Wisconsin, the names, locations, and case histories of every clergy person, church official, teacher, or employee who has sexually abused children and minors.
These child safety actions by you could then be immeasurably strengthened by your unqualified support for AB949, The Clergy Sex Abuse Registry Law, introduced last term in the Wisconsin legislature, whose chief author is long time child protection champion and Roman Catholic, Rep. Peggy Krusick of Milwaukee.
AB949 would require all religious organizations, not just Catholic ones, to submit case summaries of every employee they determined--after an investigation--had sexually assaulted children who were never reported to authorities. If passed, this necessary and basic measure would put religious organizations and clergy in line with ever other organization and profession working with children in the State of Wisconsin.
Bishops and all religious leaders should be the best of citizens. We urge you to join childhood victims of sexual abuse by clergy this child centered week, along with all victim/survivors around the state, in swiftly enacting these simple and bold acts of good citizenship.
Peter Isely
SNAP Midwest Director
peterisely@yahoo.com
414.429.7259
John Pilmaier
SNAP Milwaukee Co-Director
pilmaier@milwpc.com
414.366.8575
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest self-help organization of clergy sexual abuse survivors, founded in 1989 with over 7,000 members in 63 chapters. Visit SNAP on the web at SNAPnetwork.org.
Asking Dolan to post this week addresses of Wisconsin clergy who sexually assaulted children
New legislation, however, would require by law that religious officials turn over abuse information
CONTACT
Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director, 414.429.7259
--Email to Archbishop Timothy Dolan posted below, Bill AB-949 attached--
In an email sent Friday to Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin victims of childhood sexual abuse are urging him to follow state authorities and publish this week the names and locations of all unregistered clergy determined by church officials to have molested children and take steps to ensure a safe Halloween for children.
Victims are also urging Dolan to support Wisconsin AB949, the Clergy Sex Abuse Registry Law, introduced at the end of the spring legislative term.
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2008
To: Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee
From: Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
Re: Halloween release of locations of unregistered clergy child sex offenders and AB949
Archbishop Dolan:
This Sunday, and throughout the week, Wisconsin correction officials around the nation will be keeping careful watch on registered sex offenders in our community. During this child friendly week of trick-or-treating, law enforcement representatives here and around the nation will be making random visits to offender’s homes, establishing a 5:00 p.m. curfew, requiring a “no candy” sign to be placed on doors, and holding mandatory Halloween treatment sessions.
While such measures are welcome, statistics shows that only 1 out of every 10 sex offenders are known to the public, with nearly 90 percent unreported to law enforcement. This group would include, of course, the over 5,000 sex offenders admitted by the Roman Catholic bishops to have molested children over the past several decades. In the Milwaukee archdiocese alone, some 60 diocesan and religious order clergy have assaulted children or minors.
This coming week would be an excellent time to show your commitment to the protection of God’s children and finally publish, along with your fellow bishops from Wisconsin, the names, locations, and case histories of every clergy person, church official, teacher, or employee who has sexually abused children and minors.
These child safety actions by you could then be immeasurably strengthened by your unqualified support for AB949, The Clergy Sex Abuse Registry Law, introduced last term in the Wisconsin legislature, whose chief author is long time child protection champion and Roman Catholic, Rep. Peggy Krusick of Milwaukee.
AB949 would require all religious organizations, not just Catholic ones, to submit case summaries of every employee they determined--after an investigation--had sexually assaulted children who were never reported to authorities. If passed, this necessary and basic measure would put religious organizations and clergy in line with ever other organization and profession working with children in the State of Wisconsin.
Bishops and all religious leaders should be the best of citizens. We urge you to join childhood victims of sexual abuse by clergy this child centered week, along with all victim/survivors around the state, in swiftly enacting these simple and bold acts of good citizenship.
Peter Isely
SNAP Midwest Director
peterisely@yahoo.com
414.429.7259
John Pilmaier
SNAP Milwaukee Co-Director
pilmaier@milwpc.com
414.366.8575
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest self-help organization of clergy sexual abuse survivors, founded in 1989 with over 7,000 members in 63 chapters. Visit SNAP on the web at SNAPnetwork.org.
Predator priest loses custody dispute to woman who bore triplets with donor eggs
For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)
Yet again, we see a recent case of horrific child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest who obviously was inadequately supervised and who sadly still walks free today.
We beg anyone with information about possible crimes by Fr. Christancho to do what's right and contact law enforcement immediately.
Each person who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Cristancho's misdeeds has a moral and civic duty to come forward, call police, get help and warn others about him.
We hope others who've been hurt by this predator will find the strength and courage to come forward, get help, and take legal action so that others are protected.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 17 years and have more than 8,000 members across the country. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Peter Isely (414-429-7259) Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688)
http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=8916&type=UTTM
Priest loses custody dispute to woman who bore triplets with donor eggs
CARYN TAMBER - Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer - October 27, 2008 6:54 PM
The state’s second-highest court has upheld a judge’s decision to give custody of 6-year-old triplets to the woman who gave birth to them using another woman’s eggs and the sperm of a Catholic priest.
Dalia Fernandez deserves custody because the priest, Fernando Cristancho, was found to have sexually abused two of the triplets, the Court of Special Appeals held.
Margaret Attanasio, the Harford County lawyer who argued the case for Fernandez on appeal, said she expected the court to decide the case in favor of her client.
“It’s not a surprise,” she said. “They had to affirm it.”
The county trial judge had found that Fernandez, a platonic friend of the priest who had lived with his mother, was the triplets’ de facto parent — that is, a non-parent who acts in a parental role.
However, while Cristancho’s appeal was pending, the state’s highest court struck down the de facto parent doctrine in another case. It held that third parties must show exceptional circumstances to overcome a parent’s right to determine custody or visitation.
But that did not mean the decision should be reversed, the intermediate appellate court said.
“[E]ven though it relied upon a subsequently overruled case, the trial court applied the correct test in making its decision,” Judge Deborah S. Eyler wrote for the three-judge panel. “Therefore, any error in finding that Dalia was a de facto parent of the triplets was harmless, as Fernando [Cristancho] himself concedes in his brief.”
Cristancho’s lawyer, Laura Bearsch, did not immediately return a call for comment Monday afternoon.
Two boys and a girl
According to Monday’s unreported opinion, Cristancho and Fernandez met through Cristancho’s sister, who worked with Fernandez.
Cristancho, as a priest, had taken a vow of celibacy, but he wanted children. He convinced Fernandez to bear his children, who would be conceived through in vitro fertilization of an anonymous donor’s eggs with Cristancho’s sperm.
Fernandez was 50 years old at the time; Cristancho was in his 40s. They were close friends but did not have a romantic or sexual relationship, according to the opinion.
They traveled to Colombia, Cristancho’s native country, in 2001 to undergo the in vitro process. Afterward, Fernandez moved in with Cristancho’s mother and, when he was not staying at the church, Cristancho himself. Various other relatives of Cristancho and Fernandez lived there too, at times.
Fernandez gave birth to the triplets, two boys and a girl, that November. Cristancho, at the time an assistant priest at St. Ignatius Church in Forest Hill, did not tell anyone at his church about the children. When church officials found out, they fired him, according to the appellate opinion.
Fernandez and Cristancho’s relationship started to deteriorate, with allegations of domestic violence and a fight over custody. In 2005, Fernandez found out from one of the boys that Cristancho was sexually abusing him, the opinion says.
She testified that she contacted the children’s doctor to find out what to do, but he told her “nothing could be done until the children were six years old,” according to the opinion.
In 2006, a friend of Fernandez who was babysitting the children heard a similar story from the boy. The friend told her pastor, who contacted the police and notified an official with the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Department of Social Services was notified and investigated. The agency determined that child sexual abuse of the two boys was “indicated,” its highest-level finding, but ruled out abuse of their sister.
In 2007, after a custody trial, Harford County Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. found that Cristancho had abused the boys, and did not find that Cristancho was unlikely to abuse them again. In addition to finding that Fernandez was a de facto parent, he found that she had proven Cristancho unfit and, therefore, that she only had to show that giving her custody would be in the children’s best interest.
On appeal, Cristancho argued that Plitt had erred in finding that he had abused the boys, but the Court of Special Appeals rejected his argument as “an attempt to reargue the facts of the case.”
J. Richard Moore III, who is now a domestic master in Harford County but represented Fernandez at trial, said he was not concerned about the fate of the case when he heard the Court of Appeals struck down de facto parenthood.
“I wasn’t, only because of the way that Judge Plitt fashioned his decision,” Moore said. “It hedges against that whole issue, the de facto parent.”
The unreported opinion is available as RecordFax 8-1027-06 (18 pages).
http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/crime/Priest_loses_custody_of_triplets.html
Priest loses custody of triplets fathered by donating sperm - accused of abusing those children
By Carolyn Peirce - Examiner Staff Writer 10/30/08
A Catholic priest found to have sexually abused two of his 6-year-old triplets lost custody this week to the woman who gave birth to the children using his donated sperm and another woman’s eggs.
The state’s second-highest court held Monday that Fernando Cristancho, 52, of Bel Air, is unfit to parent the triplets, two boys and a girl, and granted custody to Dalia Fernandez, 57, the woman who gave birth to them using in vitro fertilization.
The decision affirmed the ruling of Harford Circuit Judge Emory Plitt Jr., who said Fernandez deserved the children because she was a de facto parent acting as their mother even though she was unrelated.
Plitt’s decision had been called into question when the state’s highest court ruled against the de facto parent doctrine in another case during Cristancho’s appeal, saying only extreme circumstances overrule a parent’s right to custody.
“One of the constitutionally protected rights is for a parent to have say with regard to [the custody of] their children and to overcome that, you have to show some sort of unfitness by the parent,” said J. Richard Moore III, Fernandez’s trial attorney who is now a master in Harford. Masters make recommendations in family and juvenile cases that are sent to judges who make the final decision.
Moore said the intermediate appellate court upheld Plitt’s ruling because the sexual abuse was proof enough that Cristancho was unfit, even if the de facto parent doctrine was tossed.
“Plitt took into account that the court might rule in that fashion,” Moore said. “So, he also found that Cristancho was unfit ... and basically made the opinion bulletproof.”
Cristancho’s’ attorney Laura Bearsch said the appeal was based on discrepancies in what the boys reported and a Department of Social Services investigation that was “really, really full of errors.”
Bearsch said the boys were never interviewed alone, and authorities were “picking and choosing” what to believe. Cristancho never was criminally charged with sex abuse, she said.
According to Monday’s opinion, Cristancho asked his Platonic friend Fernandez to travel with him to Colombia in 2001 and undergo the in vitro process, because he had taken a vow of celibacy.
Church officials learned of the children’s birth in November and fired Cristancho from his position as assistant priest at St. Ignatius Church in Forest Hill. His relationship with Fernandez soon dwindled.
According to the opinion, one of the boys disclosed the sexual abuse in 2005, but the family’s doctor told Fernandez that police wouldn’t believe the boy because of his age.
When the boy told the same story in 2006 to a baby sitter, police were notified along with the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Department of Social Services.
Cristancho also was accused in 1997 of sexual misconduct with a young woman who wasn’t a minor, for which he was fired from the Parish Council at Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria, Va., according to the opinion.
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)
Yet again, we see a recent case of horrific child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest who obviously was inadequately supervised and who sadly still walks free today.
We beg anyone with information about possible crimes by Fr. Christancho to do what's right and contact law enforcement immediately.
Each person who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Cristancho's misdeeds has a moral and civic duty to come forward, call police, get help and warn others about him.
We hope others who've been hurt by this predator will find the strength and courage to come forward, get help, and take legal action so that others are protected.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 17 years and have more than 8,000 members across the country. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Peter Isely (414-429-7259) Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688)
http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=8916&type=UTTM
Priest loses custody dispute to woman who bore triplets with donor eggs
CARYN TAMBER - Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer - October 27, 2008 6:54 PM
The state’s second-highest court has upheld a judge’s decision to give custody of 6-year-old triplets to the woman who gave birth to them using another woman’s eggs and the sperm of a Catholic priest.
Dalia Fernandez deserves custody because the priest, Fernando Cristancho, was found to have sexually abused two of the triplets, the Court of Special Appeals held.
Margaret Attanasio, the Harford County lawyer who argued the case for Fernandez on appeal, said she expected the court to decide the case in favor of her client.
“It’s not a surprise,” she said. “They had to affirm it.”
The county trial judge had found that Fernandez, a platonic friend of the priest who had lived with his mother, was the triplets’ de facto parent — that is, a non-parent who acts in a parental role.
However, while Cristancho’s appeal was pending, the state’s highest court struck down the de facto parent doctrine in another case. It held that third parties must show exceptional circumstances to overcome a parent’s right to determine custody or visitation.
But that did not mean the decision should be reversed, the intermediate appellate court said.
“[E]ven though it relied upon a subsequently overruled case, the trial court applied the correct test in making its decision,” Judge Deborah S. Eyler wrote for the three-judge panel. “Therefore, any error in finding that Dalia was a de facto parent of the triplets was harmless, as Fernando [Cristancho] himself concedes in his brief.”
Cristancho’s lawyer, Laura Bearsch, did not immediately return a call for comment Monday afternoon.
Two boys and a girl
According to Monday’s unreported opinion, Cristancho and Fernandez met through Cristancho’s sister, who worked with Fernandez.
Cristancho, as a priest, had taken a vow of celibacy, but he wanted children. He convinced Fernandez to bear his children, who would be conceived through in vitro fertilization of an anonymous donor’s eggs with Cristancho’s sperm.
Fernandez was 50 years old at the time; Cristancho was in his 40s. They were close friends but did not have a romantic or sexual relationship, according to the opinion.
They traveled to Colombia, Cristancho’s native country, in 2001 to undergo the in vitro process. Afterward, Fernandez moved in with Cristancho’s mother and, when he was not staying at the church, Cristancho himself. Various other relatives of Cristancho and Fernandez lived there too, at times.
Fernandez gave birth to the triplets, two boys and a girl, that November. Cristancho, at the time an assistant priest at St. Ignatius Church in Forest Hill, did not tell anyone at his church about the children. When church officials found out, they fired him, according to the appellate opinion.
Fernandez and Cristancho’s relationship started to deteriorate, with allegations of domestic violence and a fight over custody. In 2005, Fernandez found out from one of the boys that Cristancho was sexually abusing him, the opinion says.
She testified that she contacted the children’s doctor to find out what to do, but he told her “nothing could be done until the children were six years old,” according to the opinion.
In 2006, a friend of Fernandez who was babysitting the children heard a similar story from the boy. The friend told her pastor, who contacted the police and notified an official with the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Department of Social Services was notified and investigated. The agency determined that child sexual abuse of the two boys was “indicated,” its highest-level finding, but ruled out abuse of their sister.
In 2007, after a custody trial, Harford County Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. found that Cristancho had abused the boys, and did not find that Cristancho was unlikely to abuse them again. In addition to finding that Fernandez was a de facto parent, he found that she had proven Cristancho unfit and, therefore, that she only had to show that giving her custody would be in the children’s best interest.
On appeal, Cristancho argued that Plitt had erred in finding that he had abused the boys, but the Court of Special Appeals rejected his argument as “an attempt to reargue the facts of the case.”
J. Richard Moore III, who is now a domestic master in Harford County but represented Fernandez at trial, said he was not concerned about the fate of the case when he heard the Court of Appeals struck down de facto parenthood.
“I wasn’t, only because of the way that Judge Plitt fashioned his decision,” Moore said. “It hedges against that whole issue, the de facto parent.”
The unreported opinion is available as RecordFax 8-1027-06 (18 pages).
http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/crime/Priest_loses_custody_of_triplets.html
Priest loses custody of triplets fathered by donating sperm - accused of abusing those children
By Carolyn Peirce - Examiner Staff Writer 10/30/08
A Catholic priest found to have sexually abused two of his 6-year-old triplets lost custody this week to the woman who gave birth to the children using his donated sperm and another woman’s eggs.
The state’s second-highest court held Monday that Fernando Cristancho, 52, of Bel Air, is unfit to parent the triplets, two boys and a girl, and granted custody to Dalia Fernandez, 57, the woman who gave birth to them using in vitro fertilization.
The decision affirmed the ruling of Harford Circuit Judge Emory Plitt Jr., who said Fernandez deserved the children because she was a de facto parent acting as their mother even though she was unrelated.
Plitt’s decision had been called into question when the state’s highest court ruled against the de facto parent doctrine in another case during Cristancho’s appeal, saying only extreme circumstances overrule a parent’s right to custody.
“One of the constitutionally protected rights is for a parent to have say with regard to [the custody of] their children and to overcome that, you have to show some sort of unfitness by the parent,” said J. Richard Moore III, Fernandez’s trial attorney who is now a master in Harford. Masters make recommendations in family and juvenile cases that are sent to judges who make the final decision.
Moore said the intermediate appellate court upheld Plitt’s ruling because the sexual abuse was proof enough that Cristancho was unfit, even if the de facto parent doctrine was tossed.
“Plitt took into account that the court might rule in that fashion,” Moore said. “So, he also found that Cristancho was unfit ... and basically made the opinion bulletproof.”
Cristancho’s’ attorney Laura Bearsch said the appeal was based on discrepancies in what the boys reported and a Department of Social Services investigation that was “really, really full of errors.”
Bearsch said the boys were never interviewed alone, and authorities were “picking and choosing” what to believe. Cristancho never was criminally charged with sex abuse, she said.
According to Monday’s opinion, Cristancho asked his Platonic friend Fernandez to travel with him to Colombia in 2001 and undergo the in vitro process, because he had taken a vow of celibacy.
Church officials learned of the children’s birth in November and fired Cristancho from his position as assistant priest at St. Ignatius Church in Forest Hill. His relationship with Fernandez soon dwindled.
According to the opinion, one of the boys disclosed the sexual abuse in 2005, but the family’s doctor told Fernandez that police wouldn’t believe the boy because of his age.
When the boy told the same story in 2006 to a baby sitter, police were notified along with the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Department of Social Services.
Cristancho also was accused in 1997 of sexual misconduct with a young woman who wasn’t a minor, for which he was fired from the Parish Council at Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria, Va., according to the opinion.
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