Santa Ana, USA - Lawyers said Wednesday that a contempt-of-court citation against the Roman Catholic bishop of Orange County was dropped as part of the completion of a nearly $7 million sexual abuse settlement.
Even as the sides announced the citation against Bishop Tod D. Brown was being dropped, they bickered over how that came about, with a plaintiffs' attorney insisting it was tied to the church's pursestrings.
Attorneys for four plaintiffs who allege they were abused by Diocese of Orange lay workers had asked a judge to hold Brown in contempt after he abruptly sent a high-ranking church official and potential witness to Canada for undisclosed medical treatment before trial.
Diocese spokesman Ryan Lilyengren said the church had not withheld payment of the settlement until the contempt citation was dropped, but plaintiffs' attorney John Manly attacked that as "an outright lie."
Manly said the diocese refused to sign the final settlement or disburse the money unless the plaintiffs agreed to dismiss the contempt citation.
"When it became obvious that they were really going to have to have a contempt hearing and that ... the bishop was going to have to testify, there was no way they were going to let that happen," Manly said. "It's sneaky and duplicitous."
The judge had begun contempt proceedings against Brown last month, hearing opening statements from attorneys on both sides before postponing the rest of the hearing until Dec. 3.
The accusers and the diocese finalized the settlement Nov. 20, which resulted in the dismissal of the contempt citation, Lilyengren said.
Peter Callahan, Brown's attorney, said Judge Gail Andler had reviewed the updated settlement and decided to cancel the contempt hearing. Callahan said his office didn't learn of her decision until Wednesday.
"At no time was there ever any tie-in between settlement and contempt," he said. "That's up to the judge, that's not for me to decide or Manly to decide."
Brown could have faced a range of punishments from a verbal reprimand to jail time if the proceedings had gone forward and he had been found in contempt of court.
"The bishop wanted to appear in court and have this dismissed in open court," Lilyengren said. "But it's over and done and we're hopeful to move forward and move on in the healing process."