BURBANK, CA -- February 2, 2013--KCETLink's award winning
hard-hitting award-winning nightly new program SoCal Connected reveals
tonight that Joseph D. Pina, who was a Catholic priest for 26 years in Southern
California until he left the church after repeated admissions of a sexual
relationship with a minor, later went to work at Los Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD). According to recently
released church documents, The Los Angeles Archdiocese was aware as early as
2009 that Pina was working for LAUSD, despite his extensive record of
sexual misconduct as a Catholic Priest. It's unclear if church leaders informed
the district of Pina's past.
Pina, whose last assignment was at St. Emydius Church in
Lynnwood, resigned from the priesthood in March 1998. A review of the
LAUSD website shows Pina has worked as a community organizer for the school
district as early as February 2002.
In an email to SoCal Connected LAUSD Director of
Communications, Thomas Waldman, confirms former priest Joseph Pina is "the
same Joseph Pina" who has been working at the district. Waldman did not have
employment dates or Pina's current employment status. As a community organizer
at LAUSD he organized and attended dozens of community outreach events
through the city.
At a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, for a new occupational center in Bell, an event Pina reportedly organized for the district, a man told SoCal Connected that he worked with Pina who served "as community rep for this project." When asked if he was aware Pina was a former priest involved in a sexual misconduct case with a minor, the man, who declined to give his name, said he didn't know the personal life of Joe 'at all.' Afterwards he shrugged his shoulder and said he had no further comment.
Tiffany Mansour, who was helping community organizers at the Bell event, reviewed a website photo SoCal Connected show her and recognized Pina as an LAUSD employee who has worked with her mother for a number of years. She recalled Pina used to be a priest, but was "shocked" to learn that he has been involved in a sexual abuse case.
It is not known whether LAUSD knew anything of Pina's
background when he was hired. In Waldman's email to SoCal Connected
he said he "has no information of any conversation between the Church and LAUSD
regarding Mr. Pina's past in the priesthood."
Calls to the Church's public information officer were not
returned at press time." SoCal Connected also made numerous attempts to
locate Pina, but neighbors told us he didn't come home Friday night, and they
had not seen him.
The once-confidential church documents reveal Pina sought treatment on several occasions for sexual misconduct. An Oct. 8, 1993, psychological evaluation written to Monsignor Timothy Dyer said Pina "remains a serious risk for acting out." The document goes on to say, "Over the years he's perfected his method, and his behavior suggests that single Hispanic female mothers and possibly minors are at risk for becoming victimized." The evaluation's author concludes with a recommendation, "I would advise the Archdiocese to take appropriate measures and precautions to insure that he is not in a setting where he can victimize others." The archdiocese sent him to at least two in house treatment centers and a halfway house for sexual offenders, but
also returned him to several parishes, until he resigned
in 1998.
The documents reveal the church stood behind Pina and offered words of support and comfort. Support also came from the man at the very top: then Archdiocese Roger Mahoney. "Dear Joe," wrote Mahoney in June 1990. "I just want to renew in writing my esteem, affection and prayers for you during these days of some trial." Mahoney ends the letter writing, "you continue to have my prayers, my support and my friendship." The Pina files raise serious questions about the extent of the church's systematic cover-up, and whether any steps were taken to inform LAUSD of the former priest's troubled background while he was working for the nation's second largest school district.
In his resignation letter to the parishioners of St. Emydius dated March 14, 1998, he wrote "the time has come for me to seek more serious help for my personal issues. For some time now I thought that I was working on my recovery issues diligently and honestly. However, I was not."
ABOUT SOCAL CONNECTED
SoCal Connected,
winner of a Peabody and two duPont Awards, 17 Emmy® Awards, 19 Golden Mikes, 41
LA Press Club Awards, two Gracie Awards, and three regional Edward R. Murrow
Awards, including Best News Documentary and Los Angeles Magazine's "Best
New Local TV Program" of 2009, airs nightly at 5:30 p.m. with encores at
10:00 p.m. exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view episodes online
or to leave comments, please visit www.socalconnected.org.
SoCal Connected is
made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation serving
the Los Angeles community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; the Maddocks
Brown Foundation; The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation; and The
California Endowment.
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