Two FORMER Los Angeles priests were arrested in midJune and a lawsuit brought against a Californian parish priest by a woman who accused him of abuse during a near 40 year relationship.
Retired Father Titian Athos Miani, 76, now of Stockton, California and Michael Wempe, 63, a former Salesian priest now living in Seal Beach, California, were detained by police.
Fr Miani was charged with two counts of committing lewd acts on a child in relation to the molestation of two girls in the mid-1960s. He was released on a $200,000 bail. Wempe is charged with 42 counts of the molestation of five boys between 1977 and 1986 at parishes in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties.
Retired Carmelite Father Matthew Sprouffske, 76, who has been suspended, was ordered to stand trial on four counts of lewd acts with a child.
The priest's cousin testified at a preliminary hearing on June 19 that she remembered being molested by him nearly 50 years ago when he was working at Mount Carmel High School in Los Angeles.