The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, April 15, 2013 - 5A
Despite molestation
acuainpriest
ministered in Texas'
Court battle ensues
over release of
personnel records
LOS ANGELES (AP) - When
the Rev. John Anthony Salazar
arrived in Tulia, Texas, in 1991,
he was warmly welcomed by
the Roman Catholic community
tucked in the Texas Panhandle.
What his new parishioners
didn't know was he'd been hired
out of a treatment program for
pedophile priests - and that
he'd been convicted for child
molestation and banned from
the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
for life.
Over the next11years, Salazar
would be accused of abusingfour
more children and young men in
Texas, including an 18-year-old
parishioner who suffered teeth
marks on his genitals. Today he
awaits trial on one molestation
charge, while his accusers and
former followers seek a way to
move forward.
Many details of Salazar's past
are contained in a confidential
personnel file that was among
120 such files the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles made public this
year after a legal battle with
abuse victims. But those records
tell only part of the story.
On Tuesday, attorneys return
to court to argue over the release
of records for about 80 priests,
including Salazar, who belonged
to Roman Catholic religious
orders that kept their own per-
sonnel files on accused clergy-
men. The hearingwill address in
what form and when those files
will be made public, and involves
orders such as the Jesuits, Sale-
sians, Vincentians and Domini-
cans.
The documents are critical
to understanding the full scope
of the clergy abuse scandal, said
Ray Boucher, who represents
Los Angeles-areavictims.
As part of a separate settle-
ment, the Franciscans were
forced last year to release
confidential records on their
members who'd been accused
of molestation. The papers
revealed a culture of abuse
that affected generations of
students at the seminary dedi-
cated to training future Fran-
ciscans. Among the documents
was a "sexual autobiography"
penned by one priest as part
of a therapy assignment that
spelled out how he groomed
children for molestation from a
boys' choir that he founded.
"These orders really have a
primary role and responsibil-
ity in the transfer of pedophile
priests," Boucher said.
About 25 percent of priests
accused of abuse in Los Ange-
les belonged to religious orders.
Many had been loaned out to
the archdiocese to help with a
perpetual shortage of priests.
In some cases, Boucher said,
the orders may have sent known
pedophiles to work in the arch-
diocese in the same way that the
larger church has been accused
of shuffling around problem
priests.
J. Michael Hennigan, an
archdiocese attorney represent-
ing more than a dozen orders
involved in Tuesday's hearing,
said the orders operate as sepa-
rate entities from the archdio-
cese in financial and disciplinary
matters.
"I don't think even practic-
ing Catholics have a very clear
understanding ofwhere the lines
of authority are drawn," he said.
Salazar belonged to the Pia-
nist Fathers, a tiny order that
focuses on educating poor chil-
dren and administers several
parishes in East Los Angeles.
The order, Boucher said, still has
records on Salazar that could fill
in holes in his archdiocese file,
which begins in 1986 when Sala-
zar first was charged with abuse.
The priest was assigned to work
in the archdiocese two years ear-
lier.
Salazar was accused of
molesting children from East
LA parishes, sometimes during
camping trips and at a Piarist
residential house, according to
notes in his archdiocese file.
After Salazar was arrested, the
Piarists solicited character let-
ters from his fellow priests and
contacted an attorney who had
helped another accused priest
strike a deal to serve part of his
sentence in a residential facil-
ity.
The Piarists did not return
calls and emails to their LA
parish or their headquarters in
Miami.
Salazar pleaded guilty in
1987 to one count of oral copu-
lation and one count of lewd or
lascivious acts with a child for
molesting two altar boys, ages
13 and 14. He served three years
of a six-year prison term before
being sent in 1990 to a residen-
tial program in New Mexico that
treated pedophile priests. He
was also required to register asa
sex offender.
One year later, the Diocese
of Amarillo hired Salazar and
assigned him to a vast, rural par-
ish in the Panhandle while he
was still on parole.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger
Mahony, who has been criti-
cized for not doing more to
stop abuse when he led the
archdiocese, acted swiftly with
Salazar. He revoked the priest's
right to work within the arch-
diocese in 1986, the same day
he learned of molestation accu-
sations.
However, Mahony was unable
to prevent Salazar's transfer to
Texas because he belonged to
the Piarists and ultimately fell
outside of the cardinal's author-
ity. Mahony did write Bishop
Leroy Matthiesen in Amarillo to
warn him of Salazar's conviction
but couldn't dissuade his col-
league.
"You must thinkI don't screen
applicantswell. I assure you I do,
and that I have rejected a num-
ber of them," Matthiesen wrote
Mahony in a Jan. 28, 1992, letter
contained in Salazar's archdio-
cese file. "The Diocese of Ama-
rillo has 38 parish priests and
38,000 registered Catholics. ... I
am able to keep careful tabs on
all our priests."
Matthiesen died in 2010, but
in an autobiography he defended
his decision to hire molesting
priests from the aftercare pro-
gram, sayingtheyhad "repented,
paid the price, were rehabilitat-
ed, stayed within the boundaries
laid out for them."
"These are the types of priests
I accepted into the diocese," he
wrote. "I have no regrets for
having done so."
While not mentioning Sala-
zar specifically, Matthiesen said
he took in problem priests from
three dioceses, as well as several
other "self-admitted" molesters.
A spokesman for the Amarillo
diocese did not return a phone
message. Salazar also declined
comment.
In Texas, Salazar served as
pastor of the Church of The Holy
Spirit in Tulia, a cattle and cot-
ton farming community of about
5,000 people in Swisher County,
and also oversaw Catholic mis-
sions in the nearby towns of
Kress and Silverton. A religious
figure serves an important role
in such places, said Kirk Wil-
liams, criminal investigator for
the county attorney.
"In these small towns, you
don't have the money for psy-
chiatrists, marriage counselors
and things that a priest and a
preacher could take care of," he
said.
Four parishioners have
accused Salazar of molesting
them in Texas. A civil lawsuit
filed by three victims dates the
earliest abuse to 1991, not long
after Salazar's arrival. The
claims, which were settled con-
fidentially in 2006 and 2007,
allege Salazar molested two
boys in the Tulia church rec-
tory.
The third plaintiff's allega-
tions, made after Salazar had
been removed from active
ministry in 2002, were tried
criminally. In 2005, Salazar
was convicted of sexually
assaulting the 18-year-old man
at a wedding in Dallas County.
Salazar denied the claim, but
the man got a hospital rape
exam and had bite marks and
bruises on his genitals. Salazar
was sentenced to life in prison
and, soon after, was defrocked
by the Vatican.
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Former football players Denard Robinson, Desmond Howard and Dhani Jones speak at the third Annual Appreciate+Reciprocate Benefit Dinner in Palmer Commons Friday.
LEGENDS
From Page 1A
be absent due to an unexpected
NFL event - said he had a similar
confession to make: he's addicted
to candy.
"Any kind of candy, I love. My
mom had a problem with me eat-
ing candy, so I like sneaking it
now," Robinson said.
Howard said over time, he has
really learned the importance of
giving one's time to others.
"I think one thing that we take
for granted when we're younger
is time and the time that people
give to us," Howard said. "I think
when I was younger Ijust took for
granted the amount of time that
maybe coaches, people of that ilk,
spent with me, and now I value it
much more."
Curzan later asked the three
panelists how they decided on the
form of their large-scale philan-
thropic work.
Howard said his desire to help
children came from his younger
BURKE
From Page 1A
"He probably thought about it
from time to time, when coach
had him going to study hall or up
in the morning running, but at
the same time, his focus in prac-
tice and the games was, 'How can
I help Michigan now?'
"It was the right formula to
help his career in the long run."
Burke is the second point
guard in three years to leave Ann
Arbor early, joining Darius Mor-
ris, who left after the 2010-11
season. Morris fell to the second
round before being drafted by his
current team, the Los Angeles
Lakers.
FOOTBALL
From Page 1A
community."
Current and former patients
from Mott were invited to attend
the game, where they were seat-
ed on the field with parents and
friends.
Andrea Quigg's son, Jett, 8, is
brother and his mother's in-home
daycare.
"Coach Schembechler always
had us go to Mott Children's
Hospital and volunteer, and even
when we were going to the Rose
Bowl, we would spend Christ-
mas day at the children's hospital
before we got onthe plane," How-
ard said.
"I wish I had the money like
Stephen M. Ross, so I really could
give back to the University,"
Howard joked. "There are dif-
ferent ways to give back though,
without writing the check, and
you can connect the dots and
whether it's Denard, whether
it's Dhani, whether it's Charles
Woodson - you can connect the
dots and financially we've helped
to raise a whole lot of money for a
whole lot of causes at the Univer-
sity of Michigan."
Jones, who runs his own char-
ity named The Bowtie Cause,
echoed Howard, noting that his
time at the University taught him
about the need to always give
back.
With a draft class that's
expected to be much weaker this
year than last, it makes sense that
Burke decided to leave. This is
also the case for the other three
Wolverines with an NBA Draft
decision to make - freshmen for-
wards Mitch McGary and Glenn
Robinson III, as well as junior
guard Tim Hardaway Jr. - who
are expected to make their deci-
sions in the next two weeks.
"Trey Burke's decision today is
more of a reason for celebration,"
said assistant coach Bacari Alex-
ander. "Trey's done a tremendous
job of gathering information and
making an educated decision
with the people he trusts, and
quite frankly, coach Beilein is
very transparent in the process,
being treated at Mott for hydro-
cephalus, a condition- in which
an abnormal amount of fluid is
present in the brain. Quigg said
Jett and his family couldn't pass
up the opportunity to be with
friends and support their team.
"We were always Michigan
fans, but when your son is cared
for here, you kind of bleed blue,"
Quigg said.
"Getting involved with Mott
Children's Hospital really set
the groundwork for a lot of stu-
dent athletes that are here at the
University, something that Lloyd
Carr definitely instilled within
us," Jones said. "I think from a
University perspective, under-
standing that it is a greater good,
and it's something that's not
about you, it's something that's
bigger than yourself."
Robinson also discussed the
fulfillment he gets from helping
others, adding that his path from
growing up in a low-income fami-
ly to becoming a star quarterback
for Michigan has taught him to
give back.
"Like breathing, it's something
that you expect to do all the time,"
Robinson said. "I know I grew up
in a family that was unfortunate,
so anytime that I have a chance
to give back to anybody that's not
fortunate, to give back to anybody
I can talk to or be around, I want
to make their day. I want to make
somebody's day everyday."
Jones said A+R represents a
so I think those guys have great
clarity when they decide."
Added Beilein: "If you recruit
well enough, and develop players
well enough, this is inevitable.
We embrace it. We have no other
choice but to embrace it and try
to guide young men through it."
Burke's height is a draft con-
cern - listed at just 6-feet tall,
he's short for an NBA point
guard. But Burke more than
makes up for it with an explosive
first step and terrific quickness.
Burke said that he's expecting
to go in the top 15 of the draft, but
several mock drafts have him in
the top 10, and some even in the
top five.
"He's always been a winner,"
said assistant coach Lavall Jor-
Before Team 134 took the field,
the fifth annual Victors Clas-
sic Alumni football game drew
a crowd of family and friends to
the Big House. Alumni from five
decades of Michigan football
competed, including Billy Taylor,
Russell Davis and Chuck Win-
ters.
1981 graduate and former
Michigan quarterback Jim
way to be bigger than yourself.
"I think that we are all in this
room because we believe that
it's about Michigan," Jones said.
"I think regardless of whatever
position or whatever place you've
been in this University, it's about
the school. It's about the differ-
ence that our University makes
throughout the entire world, our
entire community."
LSA seniors Meredith Wester-
lund, the President of A + R, and
Jasmine Mae Poler-Pawlicki, a
recipient of the LSA Emergency
Scholarship, also spoke at the
event.
once the dinner plates had
been cleared, Jones went over
to the large handmade Michi-
gan quilt that he had won in the
event's auction and rolled it up to
stuff in its accompanying quilted
Michigan handbag. Guests lined
up around all three Michigan
football alumni, posing with the
men for pictures and offering up
their permanent markers, foot-
balls and postcards in the hopes
of receiving an autograph.
dan. "That's one of the qualities
that nobody can teach. If Trey
has anything to do with it, his
team is likely to come out on the
winningside."
He entered Ann Arbor as a
relatively unknown talent, but
after two short, yet dominating
seasons, Trey Burke is leaving as
one of the best basketball players
in the history of the Michigan
basketball program.
"Trey never wavered on his
dedication to the program,"
Alexander said. "From the time
he walked through the doors to
today's press conference, here's
a young man who was demon-
strated what poise personified is.
It's almost as if he's destined for
greatness on some level."
Breaugh said after the game that
he played because of the cama-
raderie he feels not only with his
former teammates, but with the
University community in general.
"You come back because from
the day we were all here, Michi-
gan football has been a family,"
Breaugh said. "That's what makes
this place special. That's what's
made Michigan, Michigan."
K-GRAMS
From Page 1A
activities put on by University
student organizations. In accor-
dance with the theme of this
year's fair, "K-Zoo," organizers
created habitat-themed zones,
such as jungle, safari, arctic and
underwater.
This year, 60 student orga-
nizations hosted booths at the
event, down from last year's total
of 80 student organizations.
Thirteen elementary schools
from Detroit, Ypsilanti, Willow
Run and Ann Arbor participat-
ed in the pen pal program and
attended the Kids Fair.
Education senior Amanda
Webster, executive director of
K-grams, said the intent of the
Kids Fair is to show the students
the benefits of higher education
in a fun environment.
"A lot of the schools we work
with are lower socio-economic
status, Title 1 schools with free
or reduced lunch," Webster
said. "It's sort of a self-fulfilling
prophecy that these kids don't
have family members who went
to college, they don't see it."
The Michigan Marching Band
hosted a booth where children
could try out a horn, trombone,
trumpet or piccolo. The Uni-
versity's chapter of the Ameri-
can Chemical Society hosted a
booth that showed the children
how to make lava lamps, and the
University's Dance Team taught
them dance routines with pom-
poms.
Webster said she wanted to
show the kids that college is pos-
sible for them. She said the pen
pal program and Kids Fair will
help the kids imagine them-
selves on a college campus.
LSA junior Michelle Franklin
coordinates the K-Grams pen
pal program for West Quad Resi-
dence Hall, where she is a Resi-
dent Advisor.
"I have a passion for learning,"
Franklin said. "It is cool because
I get to write to them every week
and rub off on them."
Ten-year-old Olivia- Lee, a
student at Mitchell Elementary
School in Ann Arbor, said she
loved the Kids Fair because it
was the culmination of her cor-
respondence with her pen pal.
"I get to see my pen pal and
learn lots of cool stuff," Lee said.