Expert Witness Disputes Legitimacy of Diocese Bankruptcy Claims

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 24, 2007 at 12:37 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

A bankruptcy judge will decide by Monday whether to proceed with civil trials in at least 40 sex-abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. Lawyers representing 150 people who claim

A bankruptcy judge will decide by Monday whether to proceed with civil trials in at least 40 sex-abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. Lawyers representing 150 people who claim they were victims say re-activating those trials is the only way to force the diocese into a settlement. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more on the story from Federal court.

Bankruptcy judge Louise Adler called in financial expert Todd Neisen to audit San Diego's Catholic Diocese. Nielsen was asked to consider if parishes are independent financially and can be considered separately from the diocese assets.

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He said his analysis of the churches' books revealed a “financial stew” where you can separate the peas from the carrots and the potatoes, but the money is all essentially co-mingled. He compared the financial relationship of the diocese to the parishes as that of a neglectful parent who never audits the books.

Attorneys for the diocese argued no money was hidden, but even the judge disputed their claims that money was not transferred after the sex abuse lawsuits were filed.

Judge Adler will rule on Monday whether 40 cases should go to juries in state court for trial. She will rule in September whether the diocese can legitimately file for bankruptcy.

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.