Victim speaks out now for the first time
He feels ‘abused again’ by recent dealings with church
“If you’re suffering, get help,” he says, “but not from diocese”
His experiences cast doubt on Sacramento bishop’s pay out plan
Man may file formal complaint with the state about church social worker
And his attorney insists that diocesan staffers get informed consent first from victims
What:
At a news conference, a local child sex abuse victim (who is NOT revealing his name or face) was sexually violated by a Sacramento priest will speak for the first time publicly about
--his childhood trauma and
--his recent one hour meeting with a local Catholic staffer who handles abuse cases in which he was told that
--church officials have gotten “so many” abuse reports in the last few weeks,
--he’d be lower on the priority list because his perpetrator is deceased, and
--the diocese would pay for “a few counseling sessions” for him but only if he signed away his privacy rights and let church officials get “updates” from his therapist.
The victim may file a formal complaint with the state agency about the licensed clinical social worker because he believes her professional contact with him violates ethical rules.
He will also warn victims to not trust Sacramento diocesan officials and says that the church’s approach to purportedly “helping” survivors is “one-sided and shameful.”
And his attorney will call on the bishop and his staff to get “informed consent” before speaking with abuse victims.
When:
Friday, May 31 at 10:45 a.m.
Where:
Law Offices of Joseph C. George, Ph.D., 601 University Avenue, Suite 230, Sacramento, CA
Who:
John Doe, a survivor of clergy childhood sexual abuse and IT professional
Dr. Joseph C. George, a psychologist and an attorney for child sex abuse victims
Details:
---Earlier this month, for more than an hour, Doe “poured out his pain” to diocesan staffer Loree Lippsmeyer (loreelippsmeyer@hotmail.com, 916-771-4130). Later, he asked former diocesan chancellor Kathy Conner (and “member of the bishop’s management team”) for a copy of their report. She refused to give him one.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2013/07_08/2013_08_11_Hubert_ADioceses.htm
Lippsmeyer did not disclose that the information he was providing would not be available to him. She did not provide an informed consent form but instead allowed him to divulge deeply personal information-- a violation of the norms and ethical codes required of therapists and social workers by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
Later, Conner told him there would be a delay in processing his case because the diocese received “so many reports” of sexual abuse after Bishop Jaime Soto recently released an updated list of perpetrators.
Also, Doe was not told that up front that the person taking his report is an independent contractor. She saw him in an office at the chancery and has a Diocesan email address.
https://www.canfp.org/directory_entry/loree-lippsmeyer/
(Just last month, Sacramento Catholic officials came under fire for how they’re treating another local abuse victim: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article229387169.html)
---The victim is also urging clergy child sex abuse to file reports with the Attorney General’s Office.
https://oag.ca.gov/clergyabuse
Earlier this month, AG Xavier Becerra disclosed that he’s investigating how California dioceses
handle abuse and cover-ups.
https://laist.com/2019/05/03/california_ag_investigating_catholic_dioceses.php
---Msgr. Mistretta is on the official Sacramento diocese’s ‘credibly accused clerics’ for at least two alleged crimes - reportedly abusing of a boy in 1989 and a second, separate abuse allegation made to church officials last year.
https://fox40.com/2018/12/06/man-alleges-abuse-by-two-sacramento-priests/
According to a church document written after his death, Monsignor Mistretta “was a very strong personality” and “For some, he was held in great love and esteem and for others he was feared.”
Msgr. Mistretta was assigned to Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento for four years and then to St. Rose Parish in Roseville for three years. In 1947, Fr. Mistretta started Holy Family parish and school in Citrus Heights where he worked for 41 years.
Msgr. Mistretta visited the parish school regularly” and it became “the largest Catholic grammar school in the diocese with a student body of some 700 students.”
When Msgr. Mistretta retired in 1990, he moved to his own home within the boundaries of the parish and celebrated mass “until the bishop asked him to discontinue” this practice. (No reason was apparently given for this unusual decision.) The last two years of his life, Msgr. Mistretta lived with his nephew Robert Mistretta in Sacramento. Bishop Soto presided at his funeral.
Msgr. Mistretta was a native of Brooklyn, New York, attended seminary in Pennsylvania but was ordained a Sacramento diocesan priest in 1942.
https://www.scd.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/Vol_5_No_21_Mistretta_Msgr_Vito.pdf
Contact:
Dr. Joseph C. George (916) 802-7949 cell, (916) 641-7300 office, joe@psyclaw.com, Joseph C. George, Jr. (415) 807-3744 cell, (916) 641 7300 office, jgeorgejr@psyclaw.com