Irvine California – Attorneys representing John LA-1 Doe, a survivor of child abuse by convicted pedophile and former Catholic priest Michael Baker, today filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, and Baker.
John LA-1 Doe is 32 years old. The lawsuit alleges that he was sexually abused by Father Michael Baker throughout over the course of a four-year period from 1993 through 1997 when the victim was approximately 6 to 10 years old.
This is one of the first cases to be filed against Cardinal Mahony since the passage of AB 218 in September 2019, the landmark law that created a three-year window in California’s statute of limitations which allows victims of past childhood sexual abuse to seek justice.
John Manly, Managing Partner of Manly Stewart & Finaldi and counsel for Doe, said: “This case represents one more sordid example of the efforts of Cardinal Mahony to hide and enable assault on children by a serial pedophile priest. Many victims were denied access to the courts since the 1990s by California’s outdated statute of limitations. AB 218 opens the courts to all victims of child sexual abuse during the next three years. I urge all victims of Baker and others to seek justice under this new law.”
As stated in the lawsuit, the victim was repeatedly sexually assaulted and abused by Father Baker in the St. Columbkille Church where he regularly attended services. Baker confided in Mahony during a spiritual retreat in late December 1986 that he had molested a child. After acknowledging that Baker had molested a child, Cardinal Mahony recommended and transferred Baker for treatment at a Servants of the Paraclete Facility located in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, a treatment center for known pedophiles, instead of reporting Baker to law enforcement.
Cardinal Mahony returned Baker to ministry in the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 1987. Cardinal Mahony told Baker that he was not permitted to be left alone with a child, but Baker violated this directive on no less than three documented occasions, all of which were observed by Los Angeles Archdiocesan personnel. Nevertheless, Baker remained in ministry until in or around 2000.
In 2007, Baker pled guilty to a dozen counts of molestation against two boys. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released in 2011 because of credit for time served.
According to an article in the San Gabriel Tribune, it is estimated that Baker sexually molested 23 children. His whereabouts and whether he has access to children remain unknown at this time.
Manly Stewart & Finaldi is the nation’s leading firm representing survivors in child sexual abuse cases, including against Catholic dioceses, school districts, universities, and Olympic Governing Bodies. The firm has represented more than 150 victims of clergy sexual abuse in California and hundreds of others throughout the United States. They recently represented 180 alleged victims of former Olympic Team doctor Larry Nassar, resulting in a $500 million-dollar settlement against Michigan State University.
