Los Angeles Monsignor Cleared of Abuse Charges In Canon Law Trial

In a press release issued last Saturday, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced that after ten years of investigation and a Canon Law trial, Monsignor Richard Loomis has been cleared of sexual abuse charges. AP reports that Loomis has been on inactive leave since charges against him surfaced in 2003.  The attorney for the alleged victim (who long ago filed a civil suit) says that the molestation occurred between 1968 and 1971 when Loomis was a teacher at a Catholic high school and had not taken his final vows. Apparently the alleged victim was never contacted in the church investigation.