Diocese on trial for child abuse1

1:32 PM CDT on Monday, September 4, 2006

By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA-TVAlso Online2/8/05:

Diocese faces DA inquiry Special report:

Catholic priests and sex abuse Clergy abuse tracker• from Poynter Online Diocese of Dallas• official site Reporting allegations of sexual abuse• from Diocese of Dallas

Did Catholic officials in Dallas ignore evidence of massive sexual abuse at one local parish in the late 1990s? Those allegations are at the center of a civil trial set to begin in Dallas on Tuesday. The year was 1997. The Dallas Catholic Diocese was under fire and on trial for letting Rev. Rudy Kos sexually molest at least eleven boys at area parishes. The case drew national attention and resulted in the largest clergy abuse verdict in history—nearly $120 million. Diocese officials pledged to make changes; the young victims demanded it. "The church didn't want it to happen to them, but it did happen, and sometimes bad things happen to good people," said Monsignor John Bell. Yet at the same time Catholic officials vowed to protect children, two men employed at the after-school and day-care programs at St. Pius X Parish in East Dallas were busy molesting more than a dozen children. Julio Marcos, a vice principal, was sexually abusing seven- to eleven-year-olds. Patrick Wilhoite was molesting children between the ages of two and five. Wilhoite gained the trust of the children by calling himself "Dr. Issac," and through the use of a more sinister means—his self-styled "clown ministry." Marcos earned the trust of church officials and parents and exploited that trust to extremes. Once left alone with children, Marcos would lure young girls with games like "Truth or Dare," molesting them in his classroom, in the bathroom and church playground—even during sleepovers at his house. Both men have confessed their crimes and are serving time, but the families of the young victims still believe the church needs to be held accountable for its role in what happened. "It's just a staggering number of children who admit they have been abused by these two men," said Michael Pezzulli, an attorney who has represented several of the victims suing Saint Pius and the Dallas Diocese. In seven cases, the church has quietly settled. But Pezzulli said the Diocese's unwillingness to settle the case of a severely-abused seven-year-old tells him lessons have yet to be learned. "There were repeated warning signs; they knew—or should have known—that he was doing these activities and that they were negligent and grossly negligent in not intervening and protecting these children," Pezzulli said. "The objective is always to try to settle these cases, if it is humanly possible to do that," said Randy Mathis, an attorney who represents the Dallas Diocese. Mathis also represented the church in the Rudy Kos trial nine years ago. Mathis acknowledges the abuse, and says sweeping changes have been made. "It's impossible to prevent all abuse, but certainly the objective is to try to prevent all of it," Mathis said. But the family of the seven-year-old victim feels it is only impossible if the whole truth never comes out. "Someone has to stand up and make them stop, and that's what we are trying to do," Pezzulli said.