The Rev. Fernando Sayasaya admitted to me that he sexually abused boys in four countries. (File 2004/The Dallas Morning News)
New attention is coming Monday for our landmark 2004-2005 series on the Catholic Church’s international movement of sexual abuse suspects to escape justice. The GMA Network, a leading broadcaster in the Philippines, interviewed me this morning about the project we called “Runaway Priests: Hiding in Plain Sight.”
GMA News editor-in-chief Howie Severino is finishing work on a report about Filipino priests such as Monsignor Cristobal Garcia, who became one of the church’s most prominent leaders in Asia after fleeing a U.S. molestation scandal in the 1980s. When I interviewed Garcia during our investigation, he admitted having sex with altar boys in Los Angeles — but the Vatican didn’t order him suspended from ministry until this year.
I told Severino today that our series focused on both the church’s failings and those of law enforcement. A prime example was the Rev. Fernando Sayasaya, who, like Garcia, fled the U.S. and returned to his native Philippines. My colleague Reese Dunklin and I found that the justice system had not tried to bring Sayasaya back for trial and ignored accusations that his religious superiors ordered him to hide abroad.
Earlier this year, a court in the Philippines authorized extradition of Sayasaya, who admitted abusing boys in four countries. Below is the story about him we originally published on Dec. 5, 2004, under the headline “When the law looks the other way: Authorities allow priests accused of abuse to live abroad.” … [visit site to read more]
