Not masturbated, I just fondled him, says Monsignor Herdegen, plus email says Jesuits in Santa Barbara as bad as Franciscans

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By City of Angels

In a June 2006 Deposition, before an attorney can stop Anthony Herdegen from continuing to answer, the Monsignor says, “I probably fondled him, but I never had intercourse with him or he with me, I never masturbated him," about an adult victim of pedophilia who is suing the church. Right after that utterance, Herdegen stops and there’s a back and forth between attorneys and at first it looks in the transcript as if plaintiff attorney Tony DeMarco stopped him from answering, but later you see it is actually the church attorney who stopped the dialogue at that point..

Also in this post, a Santa Barbara County resident says the Jesuits manipulated the media to put all the attention on the Franciscans and whitewash their own crimes in that region, responding to new photos of Franciscan Gus Krumm we posted July 13. Her email is at the bottom of the blog .

As soon as Herdegen incriminated himself in the June 2006 depo, his team of attorneys stopped him from talking. In the transcript you read that Carey H. Johnson, Church Attorney, from Stammer, McKnight, Barnum & Bailey in Fresno, said, “Yes, I said something because I thought Mr. De Marco was interrupting you in the middle of your answer there."

That is church attorney speak for he interrupted his witness and kept him from answering by saying he thought the plaintiff attorney was interrupting. In the transcript you can sense the chaotic crosstalk and overlapping, confusing even the Court Reporter, after Herdegen said those words about "fondling, not masturbating."

Attached to Defendants’ Motion in Opposition to a New Trial filed last June was Exhibit 17, Deposition of Monsignor Anthony Herdegen, in the case of Santillan vs. Bishop of Fresno, on which we last reported here. So now in the California appellate court system, as the Church tries to get the June 12th order for a new trial overturned, the judges will likely consider quotes from this deposition. Whatever the Bishop of Fresno is cooking up with his team of lawfirms, the deposition of Anthony Herdegen from June 8, 2006, is public record.

Below is the entire dialogue where Herdegen admitted "fondling not masturbating,: direct from the transcript of Video Depo of MONSIGNOR ANTHONY HERDEGEN, 6/8/06. You can also read the entire transcript at City of Angels 11 here

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Q Okay. And when you would have him in the -- in the room with you, the bedroom, what would be done? What were you in there for?

A: How should I say it? I probably -- probably fondled him then, but I never had intercourse with him or he with me. I never masturbated him. All those accusations were made; they're lies.

Q But so that I'm clear then --

MR. JOHNSON: Excuse me, I don't know -- I don't know if he's finished answering the question.

BY MR. De MARCO:

Q I apologize, then. I don't mean to interrupt.

A What was that?

Q I didn't mean to interrupt you, Monsignor.

A Oh.

MR. KNIGHT: That was lawyers talking about the record. They can put objections in. The -- there's the question to you, Monsignor, if the -- have you completed your answer to that. And if so, Mr. De Marco will move on and ask the next question.

MR. JOHNSON: Yes, I said something because I thought Mr. De Marco was interrupting you in the middle of your answer there.

MR. De MARCO: And I apologize if I was, Monsignor; it was not my intent.

BY MR. De MARCO:

Q Did you -- did you want to add anything to your answer? I'll -- I'll ask more questions, but if --

A What was the answer?

MR. JOHNSON: We could have that answer read back, and then if he needs to add something to it, he can add it.

MR. De MARCO: That's fine.

MR. JOHNSON: She can read it back to you.

MR. KNIGHT: Yeah.

THE WITNESS: Oh, poor girl. How do you do that?

(The requested question was read by the reporter.)

BY MR. De MARCO:

Q Did you want to add anything?

A No.

Q Okay. When you mentioned fondling, were you referring to his genitals?

A No, just him. I didn't play with that.

Q Okay. You fondled him where?

A Probably held him, something like that. But I didn't -- I didn't go into, and I did not masturbate him or doing anything like that.

Q So you -- you fondled his shoulders? I'm not understanding. I'm sorry.

A Just like that, you know, put around him (indicating).

Q Gave him a hug?

A Yeah, hug. There was nothing the other way around. If he did, he misinterpreted.

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PARANOID KAY SAYS: Read between the lines. You can hear the church attorneys above getting Herdegen to stop that answer, then Herdegen says, oh - no, I have nothing more to add, as if responding to a pre-determined Code in pre-depo attorney client preparation. This tiny gem is an example of how hard it is to get one of these Church guys saying anything totally truthful on the record, because the truth would be totally incriminating.

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Jesuits Used Franciscans to White Wash Their Own Crimes in Pedophile Epidemic of Santa Barbara Church

(Email from Tina:)

Gus Krumm and the Franciscans are not the only priests in Santa Barbara who were grooming and molesting and abusing kids and their widowed mothers The Jesuits also are and were part of that evil system..

I still see the whole system as a ritual initiation process both covert and overt that operates in the Catholic Church and through with and in the different religious orders and communities

I hope that the grooming process begins to get the attention it needs in order that we can connect all dots and put the pieces of this monster puzzle together..

Thanks for letting me vent.. I had given up hope that the grooming and the exploitation of widows, parents and other vulnerable people by the church systems and the orders would ever be addressed..

I know Ignacio. (who wrote a letter posted here). I did protesting with signs at the mission where the boys were abused and did a lot to expose the Franciscans and help those who were struggling with the enormity of what happened However, the Jesuits managed thru manipulation to make the Franciscans’ abuse the issue, and then use it to whitewash what the Jesuits were doing.

My hope is that the programming and mind control parts of grooming will be addressed because that is what lures the child away from the parents and or inspires the parent to believe that it is awesome for their son to be a priest. (We are programmed to believe it is God’s calling, when in fact it is only men beefing up their cult (and often a sex cult )


Thanks for this, KAY ( story with photos of Gus Krumm ), I appreciate your work. . so many little things that may not seem like much to some, are great healing tools for me.

- Tina, former Santa Barbara County resident

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City of Angels response: We just keep putting up what shows up in front of us, for Kay Ebeling, producer, no shortage of material on this topic.
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