Election Section
So. Calif. diocese faces sex abuse allegations
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Police who received 22 sex-abuse allegations from the Diocese of San Bernardino last week have forwarded most of them to law enforcement in 16 other communities.
On April 25, the diocese presented the San Bernardino Police Department with reports of priests who allegedly molested children between 1957 and 1995.
The list includes four priests who were still active in the diocese when church officials gave their names to police. All four have since left their parishes.
After sorting through the reports, investigators found that only three were reported to have occurred in the city, police said in a press release issued Friday.
The department said investigators faxed to California enforcement agencies reports of abuse in Belltown, Blythe, Colton, Corona, El Cajon, Fontana, Hemet, Highland, Hollywood, Mission Hills, Montclair, Ontario, Riverside, Victorville.
Police also forwarded abuse reports to Donaldson, Ind., and St. Louis, and are working to determine the proper jurisdiction for another report of abuse that allegedly occurred somewhere in Massachussetts.
