Below is excerpt from Complaint filed last month against the Franciscans of Santa Barbara for not identifying and removing pedophiles immediately, instead allowing 60 (SIXTY!) children to be raped in this idyllic beach town north of L.A.

As a result the Franciscans created a:

PUBLIC NUISANCE

After sending Ladenburger for treatment for his criminal conduct twice in the 1980s, the Franciscans allowed him to continue to work as a priest, including working at high schools. At no time did the Franciscans report Ladenburger’s criminal acts to law enforcement. At no time did the Franciscans warn any families or communities where Ladenburger had worked or was working as a priest.

As a result, when he left the priesthood nearly twenty-years later, Ladenburger had never been convicted of a sex crime, was not a registered sex offender, and only the Franciscans were aware of his pedophilic propensities. An unknown number of children have been sexually assaulted by Ladenburger as a result.

In May of 2007, Ladenburger was arrested for sexually assaulting several children in Idaho.

After Ladenburger’s arrest last year, the Franciscans denied having any record of his past abuses. Fr. Jurisich finally admitted to Ladenburger’s sordid history, and the Franciscans' knowledge since the 1980s of the risk he posed to children.

Ladenburger has since pleaded guilty to lewd conduct with two boarding school students, and on March 24, 2008, he was sentenced to five years in prison. The sentencing judge, the Honorable John Luster, found Ladenburger’s conduct so severe that he rejected a joint request by the prosecution and the defense of a suspended sentence.

Ladenburger has admitted he has a sex addiction.

These latest victims are further evidence of the continuing threat to all children posed by the Franciscans refusal to warn the public of their current and former members who have been accused of sexual abuse.

Four months after the Franciscans first denied then admitted they knew about the threat posed by Ladenburger, they were at it again. One would hope that after decades of Franciscan sexual abuse and cover-ups, at some point - perhaps, for instance, now that the number of confirmed Santa Barbara victims of Franciscan childhood sexual abuse has risen to 60 (sixty) - the Franciscan hierarchy would finally reconsider the corporation’s horribly flawed strategy of lying about and refusing to identify Franciscan priests and brothers accused of sexual abuse.

One would hope that after seeing today’s children continuing to be victimized as a result of this failed corporate strategy they would finally recognize that for the sake of both past and future victims, it was time to tell the truth.

However, as evidenced by their recent conduct towards (plaintiff) Mary, the Franciscans have learned nothing from the sad events involving Ladenburger, much less from their sordid history. Instead, they continue to re-victimize survivors of Franciscan sexual abuse, and to create new victims, by continuing to lie, conceal and cover-up the identities of Franciscans who pose a risk to children.