STATE/NATION
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22,2019
THE OBSERVER — 9A
Boards hailed as fix for sex abuse often fail
By Mitch Weiss,
Matt Sedensky
and Reece Dunklin
The Associated Press
Facing thousands of
clergy sex-abuse cases, U.S.
Catholic leaders addressed
their greatest crisis in the
modern era with a promised
reform: Mandatory review
boards.
These independent panels
with lay people in each
diocese would review allega-
tions fairly and kindly. And
they would help bishops en-
sure that no abusive priests
stayed in ministry.
But almost two decades
later, an Associated Press in-
vestigation of review boards
across the country shows
they have broadly failed to
uphold these commitments.
Instead, review boards
appointed by bishops and
operating in secrecy have
routinely undermined sex
abuse claims from victims,
shielded accused priests
and helped the church avoid
payouts.
The AP also found dozens
of cases in which boards
rejected complaints, only to
have them later validated
by secular authorities. In a
few instances, board mem-
bers were themselves clergy
accused of sexual miscon-
duct. And many abuse
survivors told the AP they
faced hostility and humilia-
tion from boards.
When a man in Ohio
braced to tell a panel of
strangers how a priest had
raped him, one of them, to
his disbelief, was knitting a
pink sweater. When a terri-
fi ed woman in Iowa told a
board her story of abuse, one
member was asleep. And
when David Lasher went
before a room that included
the church defense attorney,
he was grilled until he wept.
“It’s a sham. It’s a
cover-up,” said Lasher, 56,
who told the Diocese of St.
Proposal to limit
money in Oregon
politics unveiled
By Jake Thomas
Oregon Capital Bureau
Matt Sedensky/The Associated Press
Dr. Jim Richter, a survivor of sexual abuse by a priest who is a member of the review
board in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, walks outside his home in Minne-
apolis, on Sept. 21. Richter praises the work of the review board he serves on, but says
others are full of “unqualifi ed, well-meaning, but ultimately incompetent” members.
Petersburg, Florida, board
about his sexual abuse in
April. “It’s all about protect-
ing the church.”
The board ruled against
Lasher, and the diocese
stopped paying for his coun-
seling. AP does not typically
name sex abuse victims, but
Lasher and others opted to
be identifi ed.
Several bishops con-
tacted by the AP, including
St. Petersburg’s Gregory
Parkes, didn’t respond to
requests for comment. Some
referred reporters to the
United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, which also
didn’t respond to interview
requests.
Others, such as Baltimore
Archbishop William Lori,
said that while improve-
ments are possible, review
boards are living up to the
promises of the reforms
mandated in 2002.
“They are critical to
regaining the trust and
confi dence of our people, who
rightly believe in increased
lay involvement in such mat-
ters,” said Lori, who served
on the conference’s sex abuse
committee back then.
Clergy sex abuse has cost
more than $4 billion and im-
plicated at least 5,100 priests
by the church’s own count
since 2002. The church has
been forced to reckon with
abuse again after a damning
grand jury report in Pennsyl-
vania last year.
The review board path is
supposed to give victims the
opportunity at validation
from the church, especially
for cases old enough that
statutes of limitations pre-
vent them from being tried
in court. While dioceses are
expected to report possible
crimes to authorities, review
boards are intended to ad-
vise bishops on the church’s
internal response and
their fi ndings are entirely
separate from secular law
enforcement.
However, at least a dozen
reports by government
investigators and outside
consultants with access to
church documents have
questioned the indepen-
dence of boards, their
treatment of victims or their
thoroughness.
In Colorado, an investiga-
tor jointly appointed by the
state and church recently
said Denver’s board showed
too much bias for the arch-
diocese and little under-
standing of sexual assault
and trauma. A 2016 grand
jury investigating Pennsyl-
vania’s Altoona-Johnstown
diocese called the board’s
work a cover-up cloaked “in
the guise of advocacy,” with
members focused on “fact-
fi nding for litigation” in case
the victim sued.
“It’s all internal. That’s
the problem,” said Rev.
James Connell, who served
nearly a decade on Milwau-
kee’s review board. “It’s not
that the review board didn’t
do what the review board
was asked to do. It’s that it’s
the whole wrong approach.”
Bishops have appointed
church defense attorneys
and top aides to boards,
AP found. In more than
half of the dioceses, though,
member names aren’t posted
on church websites or in the
Offi cial Catholic Directory,
leaving victims uninformed
over who will hear their case.
Count of homeless students in state increases 2%
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — New data from
the Oregon Department of Educa-
tion shows the number of homeless
students in Oregon increased 2% last
school year, continuing a trend over
the last decade.
In the 2018-19 school year, 22,215
students were either living on the
street, in shelters, in temporary hous-
ing or doubled up with other families,
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
The U.S. Department of Education
requires states to use a broader defi ni-
tion of homelessness than the federal
housing authority, which typically
means that tens of thousands more
children are counted in the yearly stu-
dent tally than the county-by-county
census of homeless people of all ages.
The state reported 15,800 homeless
Oregonians in the 2019 count.
Oregon’s homeless student count has
stayed in the range of about 22,000 in
each of the past three years including
hitting a record high of 22,541 students
homeless in the 2016-17 school year.
It grew from about 18,000 in 2012-
13 to reach that point.
Reynolds School District had the
highest percentage of homeless stu-
dents in Multnomah County last year,
with nearly 8% of the student body
without stable housing. Parkrose fol-
lowed with nearly 6%.
Beaverton, Medford and Portland
had the highest raw numbers of
students who are homeless. The three
consistently top the list, and are also
some of the biggest school districts in
the state.
Beaverton had 1,971 homeless stu-
dents, Medford 1,251 and Portland 1,217.
Oregon’s smaller districts, as has
long been the case, showed the highest
percentages of homeless students.
Many of the districts with the high-
est rates of homelessness have fewer
than 250 students. They include Ma-
pleton School District, which reported
45 students experiencing homeless-
ness — nearly 30% of the school’s total
enrollment.
The Oregon Housing and Com-
munity Services department, which
counts the total number of homeless
Oregonians found that coastal towns
and southern Oregon have the most
families experiencing homelessness —
about 3,000.
Places such as Reedsport, a city of
just over 4,000 in Douglas County, had
154 homeless students — more than
22% of the school’s enrollment. Doug-
las County also had an average rent
of $725 for a two-bedroom apartment
in 2017 and nearly 30% of the county’s
residents are paying half their income
on housing.
Each school district employs at least
one homeless student liaison who tries
to ensure students who are function-
ally homeless — whether sheltered or
on the street — receive quality educa-
tions.
The Oregon Legislature recently al-
located $150 million to build affordable
housing around the state that priori-
SALEM — Legislators
this week considered a plan
intended to impose greater
controls on Oregon’s increas-
ingly expensive political
campaigns and reduce the
infl uence of money on state
politics.
“There is, at minimum, the
perception of undue infl u-
ence of money in politics,”
said state Sen. Jeff Golden,
D-Ashland, chair of interim
committee on campaign
fi nance, on Tuesday.
The committee is crafting
campaign fi nance reforms
to be considered in the 2020
Legislature.
Oregon is one of fi ve states
with no limits on campaign
contributions, and the
proposal would establish
regulations that have eluded
reformers. During a commit-
tee hearing Tuesday, legisla-
tors from both major parties
expressed reservations about
the proposal while campaign
fi nance reform advocates
called on lawmakers to go
further.
Under the proposal,
individuals would be limited
to $750 in contributions to
any legislative candidate
and $2,000 for those seeking
statewide offi ce. The limits
would apply separately to
primary and general election
campaigns.
Individual contributions
to state party committees
and legislative caucus com-
mittees would be capped at
$2,000 annually.
The legislation also would
effectively replace Oregon’s
existing political action com-
mittees with a new commit-
tee structure that would be
organized around legislative
caucuses, parties or candi-
date campaigns.
Golden said that “maybe
the most important innova-
tion” of his proposal would
be the creation of “small
donor committees.” Golden
explained that these commit-
tees would allow individuals
to combine donations in
support or opposition to a
candidate.
Individual donations
would be capped at $200 and
could give a greater voice to
people who share a neighbor-
hood, workplace, union or
parent-teacher organization
he said.
Legislative caucus, state
party and small donor com-
mittees would be allowed to
make $15,000 contributions
per election for legislative
races and $40,000 per elec-
tion to statewide races.
The proposal also would
create “multi-candidate com-
mittees” dedicated to advanc-
ing a public policy goal that
would differ from existing
political action committees.
Individual donations to
multi-candidate committees
would be limited to $200.
Contributions then given by
such committees would have
the same limit.
Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, a Portland
Democrat serving on the
committee, said that the
proposal’s individual cam-
paign contributions were too
low. She said that the low
amount would leave candi-
dates unequipped to push
back “third party expendi-
tures,” spending by advocacy
groups or others not tied to a
candidate.
Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stay-
ton, said that the proposal
favors the majority party be-
cause committees that could
write $15,000 checks would
likely draw support from
public employee unions and
teachers, traditional back-
ers of the Democratic Party.
He called for lowering the
amount that can be contrib-
uted by committees.
The committee also heard
from supporters of campaign
fi nance reform.
Julia Degraw, executive di-
rector of government reform
group Portland Forward, rec-
ommended the Legislature
also create public fi nancing
for campaigns. She also
suggested that the sources
of independent expenditures
be disclosed in campaign
materials.
Degraw said an assort-
ment of organizations in
Oregon that support cam-
paign fi nance reform couldn’t
attend the hearing.
“But I’ll make sure we’re
engaged in the process mov-
ing forward because we can’t
afford to get this wrong,” she
said.
Previous efforts to limit
campaign contributions have
been struck down by the
Oregon Supreme Court,
which found such restric-
tions violated the state’s free
speech protections.
During the 2019 Leg-
islature, the House ap-
proved legislation limiting
campaign contributions
but it died in the Senate.
Lawmakers placed a con-
stitutional amendment on
the November 2020 ballot
that would allow campaign
contribution limits if passed
by voters.
Golden said that a bill
limiting campaign fi nance
contributions is “the basic
missing piece from last ses-
sion’s work.” The committee
did not take action on the
proposal. Friday is the dead-
line for getting “legislative
concepts” fi led ahead of next
year’s session.
O REGON IN B RIEF
From wire reports
Anonymous donor gives
40,000 pounds of pet
food to shelter
GRANTS PASS — An anony-
mous donor has given 40,000
pounds of pet food and snacks
to the Rogue Valley Humane
Society.
The Daily Courier in Grants
Pass reported Thursday that most
of the food will go to the organiza-
tion’s pet food bank, which fed
5,000 cats and dogs from low-in-
come households in the last year.
Some of it also will be delivered
to homebound seniors who have
pets.
Executive Director Margaret
Varner said the truckload of donat-
ed food will cover the needs of both
programs for at least six months.
The shelter itself is a no-kill facil-
ity and has room for 90 cats and 20
adult dogs.
The organization operates on
donations and fundraisers and is
not affi liated with the Josephine
County Animal Shelter.
Corvallis man sentenced
to 6 years for child sex
abuse
ALBANY — A Corvallis regis-
tered sex offender was sentenced
to more than six years in prison
for sex abuse that happened in
Albany.
The Democrat Herald reports
30-year-old Shawn Truett pleaded
no contest to fi rst-degree sex abuse
in Linn County Circuit Court.
Court documents show the crime
occurred in 2014, and the victim
was a girl under the age of 10.
Four other sex crimes charges
were dismissed as part of a settle-
ment.
Prosecutor Jonathan Crow said
the victim brought Truett’s conduct
to the attention of someone at her
school, and authorities were then
notifi ed. However, he said that
complications with the case led to
the plea deal.
The Albany Police Department
investigated the case.
Court: .09% not enough
to convict for drunken
driving
PORTLAND — The Oregon
Supreme Court has ruled that a
driver whose blood alcohol content
registered .09% nearly two hours
after he was stopped should not
have been convicted of drunken
driving.
The Oregonian/OregonLive
reports the legal limit for driving
is .08 percent, but the Supreme
Court said Thursday it’s unclear
what 62-year-old John Charles
Hedgpeth’s blood alcohol content
was at the time he was pulled over
along the Oregon coast in Coos
County.
The high court affi rmed a 2018
decision by the Oregon Court of
Appeals, which said it’s possible
Hedgpeth was legally sober when
he was stopped, but that over the
next nearly two hours, more liquor
entered his bloodstream and raised
his alcohol content to an illegal
level.
The problem, the Supreme Court
noted, is the prosecution failed to
provide evidence that supported
the theory that Hedgpeth’s blood
alcohol level had decreased from
the time since the offi cer pulled
him over.
Man faces charges in
death of Shady Cove
roommate, aunt
MEDFORD — Authorities said
a woman killed last week in Shady
Cove died of blunt force trauma
and the man arrested is facing
charges in her death and the death
of his aunt.
The Mail Tribune reported
20-year-old Destiny Finch lived
with 21-year-old Shane Wayman
and other roommates, according
to Jackson County deputy district
attorney Lucy Durst.
Wayman was arrested Nov.
12 and booked into the Jackson
County Jail, a day after family
reported Finch missing. He faces
charges of murder and abuse of a
corpse.
On Wednesday, Wayman was in-
dicted by a Jackson County grand
jury in the disappearance of his
aunt Malina Nickel, also of Shady
Cove.
Nickel was reported missing in
November 2016. Jackson County
Sheriff’s Offi ce detectives reported
Friday they found bones believed to
be hers.
The grand jury indicted Wayman
on two counts of criminal mistreat-
ment and abuse of a corpse in
Nickel’s case.
It wasn’t immediately known if
he has a lawyer.