"[2] Diocese of Boise Bishop Michael Driscoll apologized for his role in Orange County, California's Roman Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal.
Driscoll, who was in charge of priest personnel affairs for the Diocese of Orange County from its 1976 inception until leaving for Idaho in 1999, made the stunning admission in a letter printed in the Idaho Catholic Register, stating he was "deeply sorry that the way we handled cases [in Orange County] allowed children to be victimized by permitting some priests to remain in ministry, for not disclosing their behavior to those who might be at risk, and for not monitoring their actions more closely."
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge was expected to release priest personnel files that were supposed to become public as part of a $100-million settlement reached in 2005 between the Orange diocese and sex-abuse victims, the largest in the history of the Catholic Church.
[3] However, following a preliminary investigation, Church officials dismissed the claims, saying, "[Brown's life] does not reveal any inappropriate behavior..." He denied the allegation, declaring in 2007,[4] "I've never abused any person sexually or any other way."
[5] On January 3, 2005 Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange apologized to 87 alleged victims of sexual abuse and announced a settlement of $100 million following two years of mediation.