Ray Boucher on the Today Show

October 13, 2005

Katie Couric: Mr. Boucher, let me start with you. During a conference call to the media yesterday, the lead attorney for the LA Archdiocese said, “the release of these documents had nothing to do with the status of the abuse lawsuits against the church.” Does that sound disingenuous to you?

Ray Boucher: Not only is it disingenuous, it’s a misrepresentation of reality. The release of those documents was a condition of us sitting down and beginning settlement three years ago with them. In fact, if you look at the document itself, it clearly explains that the whole purpose for these proffers, if you will, which is a superficial outline of the case files, was to promote settlement of these cases.

Katie Couric: How many people are making these allegations? I mentioned that you represent 360 plaintiffs, but there are even more than that, correct?

Ray Boucher: There are 800 cases that have been filed in Southern California, 560 against the Diocese of Los Angeles, and we believe there’s credible evidence to suggest there’s over 2,000 victims alive in Los Angeles who haven’t yet found the courage to come forward.

Katie Couric: Obviously you contend, or many people contend, that the coverup is worse than the crime, or just as bad, I guess. And these cases you believe that these priests were moved from parish to parish? Is that right, after the church even found out about them? Or at least there’s 8 cases I understand of that happening?

Ray Boucher: There are about 160 Diocesan Priests. Of that number, a significant portion of them were moved from parish to parish. Often to the same parish in the same community after credible allegations of sexual molestation was made against them. There aren’t very many people who are going to stand up in public and say, ‘I was sodomized,’ or ‘I was brutalized sexually by a priest.’ They don’t do it for money, they do it because they finally found the courage to stand up and they hope that other people will come forward because the devastation in their lives is beyond anything we could possibly explain.