Archbishop Roger Mahony did not give a list of alter boys from his parish to investigators when Los Angeles police were investigating allegations of child abuse by the a Roman Catholic priest in 1988, the Associated Press reported.
A February 2013 deposition made public Wednesday shows Mahony told a subordinate not to give the list, saying he didn't want the boys to be scarred by the investigation and that he felt the altar boys were too old to be potential victims, according to the AP.
The detectives investigating allegations against Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, a visiting Mexican priest, ultimately got the names of the boys from parish families, the AP reported.
Investigators found the priest molested at least 26 boys during his 10 months in Los Angeles, according to the priest's confidential archdiocese file and police records made public by attorneys for the victims, according to the AP.
Twenty-five of the alleged victims were altar boys and the 26th was training with the priest to be one, according to Anthony DeMarco, a plaintiff attorney, the AP reported.
At the the time of the initial investigation, investigators complained about Mahony's lack of cooperation, according to the AP.
Mahony's deposition was obtained by The Associated Press and is part of the evidence included in a settlement of abuse claims against Aguilar Rivera and four other priests.
Since 2006, the archdiocese has paid more than $700 million to settle clergy abuse lawsuits by hundreds of victims and the largest archdiocese in the nation agreed to pay $13 million to 17 victims in this case alone, the AP reported.
Under a court order, internal church files kept on priests accused of abuse were released last year, according to the AP.
They showed that Mahony, who was elevated to cardinal and retired in 2011, maneuvered behind the scenes with his top aide, Monsignor Thomas Curry, to shield molester priests, provide damage control for the church and keep parishioners in the dark, the AP reported.
Mahony's sworn testimony in Aguilar Rivera case is significant because it's the first time he has been questioned under oath about clergy abuse since the confidential church files were released, according to the AP.
Plaintiff attorney DeMarco said during past depositions, attorneys haven't had documents to back up their questions in regards of Mahony, the AP reported.
"This time when he's trying to do the 'I don't remember' routine, I put the document in front of him and said, 'You wrote this, right?'" DeMarco said, according to the AP.
"My recollection is at the time that memo was written there was no suggestion that altar servers were involved," the attorney said, adding that Mahony was "very vigorous" in trying to get Aguilar Rivera brought back to the U.S. for prosecution after he fled, the AP reported.
Church files released last year show that Mahony ordered Curry to withhold the altar boy list from the LAPD, the AP reported. In a Jan. 26, 1988, handwritten note on a memo about the police request for a list, Mahony wrote, "We cannot give such a list for no (sic) cause whatsoever."
Mahony said in a depostion that allowing police to question altar boys at the two parishes where Aguilar Rivera worked would have created a "negative effect on a large group of altar servers who know nothing about any of this and that was -- not a good idea," according to the AP.
He denied under questioning from plaintiff attorneys that his motivation in holding back the list was to protect the priest and delay the investigation, the AP reported.
"Was I interested in having a big civil upset here for the archdiocese? No, I was not. And -- but I was not encouraging him to avoid criminal prosecution," Mahony said, according to the AP.
