Black Collar Crime in California

"By their fruits you shall know them."

Eugene A. Evans, 64, Berkeley, CA
19 felony counts of sexual assault. The leader of the Sea Scouts
- an affiliate program of the Boy Scouts, was charged with
sexually abusing 4 boys, age 13-17, over a period of at least 5
years. Source: NY Times 12/7/07.

David Hassler, 62, Pasadena, CA
Possessing child pornography. He is a religious studies teacher
at Mayfield Senior School of the Holy Jesus, a Catholic high
school for girls. Source:Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 12/2/07.

Reverand Anthony Ireland, 23, Fresno, CA
4 felony counts of forcible rape with special circumstances. The
minister at International Crossroads Community Church was
charged with targeting at least 4 women, taking them to a
secluded location, and sexually assaulting them at knifepoint.
He is already a registered sex offender. Source: KFSN-TV
11/19/07.

Markus "Mark" Holland McDowell, Ventura County, CA
New charge of genital penetration by a foreign object against a
female under 18. The youth minister at Camarillo Church of
Christ was previously charged with sexually assaulting 3 other
girls in separate cases. He now faces 13 counts of sexual abuse
and child molestation between 1992-98, and child pornography.
He met the victims through the church's youth program. Source:
Ventura County Star 11/13/07.


Micheal David Niece, 65, Half Moon Bay, CA
Soliticiation of an act of prostitution. The director of
Coastside Catholic Worker, a prominent charity, was charged with
offering money to a woman in exchange for sex. The woman speaks
little english and had come to the charity seeking help in
finding a job. Source: Palo Alto Daily News 10/19/07.


The Jesuits will pay $1.6 million to the family of Reverand
James Chevedden, Los Angeles, CA, who committed suicide after
saying he was molested by a Jesuit brother at a Jesuit-run
retirement home. The order said it does not admit liability.
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 12/14/07.


The Los Angeles Archdiocese, CA, will pay $500,000 to a woman
who was sexually abused by 7 Catholic priests, and was
impregnated by one of them before the church sent her to the
Phillipines. The archdiocese refused to comment on her case. It
is part of the $660 Million settlement the archdiocese has
reached collectively with past abuse victims. The woman first
filed suit in 1984, saying she was molested by Reverand Santiago
Tamayo when she was 16, and then sexually abused at age 18.
Tamayo then introduced her to 6 other priests who abused her,
including Reverand Valentine Tugade, who impregnated her in
1982. Tamayo reportedly suggested she get an abortion, before
sending her to the Phillipines to have the child. She returned
to California after nearly dying after giving birth, but the
archdiocese refused to help her. On the day she filed suit, all
7 priests disappeared; the whereabouts of 5 still are unknown.
Tamayo is in the Phillipines, while Tugade was last known to be
in California. In 2004, church documents revealed the church
urged Tamayo to stay in the Phillipines, mailing him checks and
advising him not to reveal the source of the payments as he was
"liable for personal suits arising out of your past actions."
The plaintiff said Tugade never expressed interest in her
daughter and that "he was disappointed actually she wasn't a
boy." Source: MSNBC 12/5/07.


In a memo issued by Bishop Robert Brom of the Diocese of
San Diego, CA, priests were asked to contribute 1 month's salary
to help pay for its recent $198.1 Million sex abuse settlement.
Catholic congregants will also receive letters asking them to
make "a generous contribution." The diocese is to pay $107.
Million of the settlement, while its insurance carrier and the
Diocese of San Bernardino will pay the rest. Source:
Press-Telegram 10/6/07.


A contempt of court citation against Bishop Tod D. Brown, Orange
County, CA, was dropped as part of the completion of a nearly $7
million sex abuse settlement. Brown had been held in contempt
after abruptly sending a high-ranking church official and
potential witness to Canada before he was to go on trial.
Plaintiffs and advocates accused the diocese of refusing to sign
the abuse settlement unless they agreed to dismiss the citation.
Source: 11/28/07.


CONVICTED: 3 counts of aggravated rape:
Austin "Troy" Bernard 3rd, 39, Hammond, Louisiana
Found guilty of raping his daughter, 2, and a boy, 12. He is the
1st of 7 members of the now-defunct Hossana Church to be tried
after being indicted in 2005 for raping children. The leader of
the church was Reverand Louis Lamonica, 49. The 2 men reportedly
had a sexual relationship that led them to raping each other's
children. The church members documented the abuse in spiral
notebooks; Bernard had a 211-page journal outlining how he went
from molesting to raping his daughter. Source: Advocate (LA)
12/4/07

SENTENCED: 14 Years
Robert Hale, 66, Anchorage, Alaska
Pleaded no contest to sexual assault, incest, and coercion. The
self-proclaimed religious leader, who called himself "Papa
Pilgram," was convicted of sexually abusing one of his daughters
between 1998-2005. Hale and his family lived far from
civilization so that he could raise them according to his
interpretation of the Bible, and feuded with the National Park
Service over their living in a National Park. Hale reportedly
told the victim she was a "special kind of daughter" who must
have sex with him. In one incident, he locked her in a shed for
3 days, raped her, and beat her until her face was black and
blue. Hale was a fugitive for 2 weeks before being taken into
custody. Hale's family testified that he physically and
sexually abused them for years, including stretching out his
sons over a "beating barrel" and lashing them with a 3-cord
riding crop. Source: CNN 11/28/07.