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In The News
Diocese settles sex-abuse claims for $35 million Tony Cano can't pick up a bass guitar, let alone play it. To him, the instrument symbolizes the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of the man who taught him to play: his priest. Cano, 46, was one of 33 people who reached a $35 million settlement Wednesday with the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento over sexual abuse by clergy. Together, a handful of them hugged and wept under a blazing Sacramento sun as they heard the details on the steps of the courthouse where the first of the civil cases was supposed to be heard. "The amount of pain and suffering they've endured is clearly incomprehensible," said attorney Joseph George, who recounted one victim throwing up during a pretrial interview. "It's off the charts." Cano, reuniting with childhood friends and former bandmates who also settled cases Wednesday with the diocese, said he felt strengthened by standing with others who have lived with similar burdens. For Cano and his family, the church was always a shelter. His mother was raising five children and gleaned her strength from the Catholic Church, he said. She was thrilled when the Rev. Mario Blanco, who served mainly Spanish-speaking parishes in the Sacramento Diocese from 1969 to 1973, took an interest in her son. He taught Cano music, and he helped him start a band. Although Cano, then a preteen, joked with his friends about never wanting to ride in the front seat of Blanco's car, he couldn't bring himself to tell his mother of the abuse. He couldn't shatter her faith in the church, he said. But when he saw Blanco on television news reports denying the accusations of others several years ago, saying he didn't even know his accusers, Cano couldn't stay silent. "I had to speak up. He was calling us liars," he said. "I tried to hide it away. I was drinking, going about my life, but I always felt guilty of something. This has always haunted me." Blanco, originally from Costa Rica and now working as an independent, traditionalist priest in Tacoma, Wash., is accused of molesting 16 of the 33 plaintiffs. This week, after celebrating Mass at his own church, Blanco denied abusing children. Chico Chavez and three of his brothers are four of the 16 who claim Blanco abused them. Chavez says he never uses his given name, Francisco, because it's the name of a saint and he doesn't feel worthy. "I've always had a low view of myself," he said. "I never thought I was deserving of good things." Chavez, 37, traces that attitude to Blanco, who he says first molested him when he was 5. He says that abuse didn't stop until he was 13, and one of his older brothers, who also claims he was abused, had Blanco banned from the home. Chavez, whose civil trial was supposed to start this week, has tried to deal with the emotional effects of abuse throughout the years. He told a girlfriend. He mentioned it in his college application essay. But for the most part, he swept the memories away. "The struggle is you can know something intellectually - you're too young, it's not your fault," he said. "But emotionally, you still feel a sense of shame and responsibility that you could have prevented it." The abuse has made Chavez who he is today - someone who has difficulty opening up, making friends and trusting others. "People say it's for the money," he said. "But I'd rather my life played out without this happening to me." Chavez, who works as a training center manager for California Emergency Foodlink, has been in therapy for three years. He said he hopes to overcome the bitterness that has enveloped him all these years for the sake of his children, ages 1 and 5. "This is not necessarily a victory for the plaintiffs and a loss for the defendants," he said. "I hope this is a moment of clarity for the church and a step toward healing for the survivors." Mina Perez, 49, is relieved by Wednesday's settlement. At 15, Perez said she was sexually assaulted by the Rev. Vincent Brady, then a visiting priest at her Sacramento church. Brady, who still lives in the area, was dismissed from the church after another allegation of abuse but denies the charges. Perez says she told a relative. She told a school official. She told a former bishop. No one believed her, she said. She says she felt she carried her truth alone until an attorney called her one day and asked her if she had been assaulted. "The church is acknowledging an injury was committed," said Perez, who is on medical leave from her job as an exam technician for the California Department of Transportation. "I carried their guilt for them. I carried their secret. ... I was their vessel. But now I want to give it back to them. I want to be released from that responsibility." Salvador Perez, 34, feels vindicated by the settlement. But he's not satisfied. "It's too little too late," said Perez, who is not related to Mina Perez. "You can throw money at an issue, but that's not going to resolve it. What's going to resolve it is ultimately taking responsibility for it and actually being accountable for it." Salvador Perez said the molestation started when he was 8 and continued until he was 17 when he got into a physical fight with his priest, the Rev. Jose Luis Urbina. Urbina, who admitted guilt and was convicted in 1989, fled to Mexico. Although born and raised in the Catholic Church, serving as an altar boy and member of the choir, Perez hasn't returned to church in years. And he doesn't think he will. "This is the beginning of a healing process," said Perez, who works as an analyst for the state of California. "It's not the end." Cano, who now works as the supervisor of maintenance for a Sacramento hotel, thinks of himself as one of the lucky ones. He still goes to church every Sunday. He still has faith in God. But the memories will never leave him. "I pray every morning, and I've got Jesus around my neck," he said. "But when I go to church, it's still there." |
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