November 29, 2018 - Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on agents who executed a search warrant at the office of Cardinal DiNardo:
When law enforcement agents act like bullies, justice is sundered. That's
what happened last month in Michigan when the police raided all seven
Catholic dioceses—including the home of one bishop—in search
of evidence of sexual abuse by the clergy.
It happened again yesterday when the local police force, the Texas Rangers,
the local D.A.'s office, and other agencies raided the Archdiocese
of Galveston-Houston, headed by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo. They were looking
for evidence concerning Rev. Manuel LaRosa-Lopez; he has been accused
of molesting two teenagers more than a quarter century ago. The priest
says he is innocent of all charges.
Why the raid? The archdiocese says it is wrong to call it a "raid"
because they were cooperating with law enforcement. But when dozens of
cops and the Texas Rangers show up, unannounced, carrying boxes they expect
to fill with documents, records, electronics, etc., what else should we
call it? It is precisely because the archdiocese was cooperating with
law enforcement that this mad search for data was so unnecessary.
How did the agents even know that the priest was accused of molesting
two teenagers at the end of the last century? The cops never apprehended
him. The authorities found out because DiNardo notified them. That's how.
Was DiNardo procrastinating? The alleged male victim didn't make his
claim until August of this year, and—isn't this curious?—days
later the alleged female victim followed suit.
DiNardo met with the male accuser and immediately removed the priest from
ministry. He did more than that: DiNardo contacted the Children's
Protective Services. The next day a warrant was issued for the priest
and he turned himself in that evening. He was booked on September 11 and
released two days later on bond. He is due in court on January 10, 2019
for a hearing.
What made the alarms go off? The archdiocese admitted it was still looking
for more documents on the priest, and law enforcement appeared satisfied.
So what broke?
CBS did a hit job on DiNardo last week, one which we
exposed, and this surely played a role in getting the agents ginned up. They want
to assure the public they are doing their job. But their job doesn't
include dragnets.
"We do believe, based on our research, that there will be a secret
archive that will have information on this case," said J. Tyler Dunman
of the special crimes unit for the Montgomery County District Attorney.
"Secret archives"? They are what organizations such as CBS call
confidential records, but it sounds more melodramatic to label them "secret
archives."
Why the dragnet? The agents are not simply looking for evidence against
the accused priest—they are going fishing. Dunman admitted that
"if we come across additional documents or evidence of criminal conduct,"
they will grab them as well. The hunt is on.
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said, "This is not
a search warrant against the Catholic Church." So what is it? He
disingenuously admitted, "We're going to go wherever the investigation
requires us to go." In other words, they are using the accused priest
as a pretext to raid the offices of the archdiocese.
Why didn't the D.A. subpoena the records? Because that would not have
accomplished their real goal—which is to go wherever the raid takes them.
That this is happening at a time when the FBI has been stiffing congressmen
for years in their requests for records pertaining to the Obama administration
and Hillary Clinton—absent any raids—makes it all the more
disturbing.
The bishops are under siege. What will the bullies think of next? Call
on the Navy Seals to find records of inappropriate touching that was allegedly
committed a half-century ago by dead priests? They surely won't convene
a grand jury probe of the public schools today. Bet on it.
Catholic League
Phone: 212-371-3191
E-mail:
pr@catholicleague.org