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Former L.A. priests arrested and ordered to trial
Friday June 20, 2003By SANDRA MARQUEZ
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) The sex abuse scandal surrounding the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese took another turn when two former priests were arrested and a third was ordered to stand trial on child molestation charges.
Michael Wempe, 63, accused of molesting five children between 1977 and 1986, was arrested Thursday as he left his Seal Beach home. Wempe, who was forced to retire last year by Cardinal Roger Mahony, was being held on $2 million bail.
In Stockton in Central California, Titian A. Miani, 76, was arrested at his home for investigation of molesting two girls in the 1960s while he was a priest assigned to the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
Multiple counts of child molestation are expected to be filed against both former priests Monday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said the arrest ``shows law enforcement's determination to ensure justice for sexual abuse victims.''
With Thursday's arrests, 10 former and current priests and one ex-seminarian have now been charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
``These are people who are not in ministry today and they have to face justice,'' said church spokesman Tod Tamberg. ``It's one of the steps along the way of dealing with what happened in the past.''
Lee Bashforth, 33, a Newport Beach stock broker who says Wempe molested him and his brother from 1976 to 1985 while Wempe was a Ventura County parish priest, said word of the arrest gave him ``tremendous relief.''
``It's been 15 months of agony since I went to the Police Department and reported what he did to me when I was a little boy,'' Bashforth said. ``My hope is that he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I hope he goes to prison for a long time for what he has done to kids.''
Meanwhile, Superior Court Judge Frederick N. Wapner ruled that there is sufficient evidence for retired priest Matthew Michael Sprouffske, 76, to stand trial on four counts of lewd acts with a child.
His arraignment was scheduled for July 3.
Sprouffske's cousin testified Thursday that she has a clear memory of being molested nearly by Sprouffske while he was assigned to Mount Carmel High School. She said he later admitted to her that he had also molested both her sisters and another girl who was not a relative.
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