Diocese of Orange settles Mater Dei sex abuse case for $3.5 million, 2 more cases expected

A $3.5-million settlement announced Tuesday in the case of a man allegedly abused by a former Catholic priest at Mater Dei High School decades ago is not the only such case involving the school, according to the law firm representing the victim.

Attorneys on the case held a news conference outside of Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove on Wednesday where the lawsuit against Michael Harris, a onetime Mater Dei administrator, was presented as one piece of a predatory puzzle at the private Catholic school overseen by the Diocese of Orange.

Attorney Mike Reck said there are two more cases involving Mater Dei High School that are set to go to trial next year as “bellwether” cases that could help predict the outcome of other similar lawsuits.

“More of these trials are coming,” he said. “They’re coming because survivors are tired and because the survivors deserve it.”

The settlement with the Diocese of Orange came just days before a jury was set to be selected for a trial at the Orange County Superior Court’s North Justice Center in Fullerton.

“For decades, the bishop and the administrators at Mater Dei have allowed Harris and 17 other known offenders … to prosper, to teach, to build trust and then prey on kids,” attorney Jeff Anderson said at the press conference. “Today is not only just to sound the alarm about the peril that has long existed but to do something to require Mater Dei and the Diocese of Orange to clean it up and to come clean.”

The alleged victim in the suit remained anonymous and did not appear at the news conference, but an attorney read a statement on his behalf.

“Harris, Mater Dei and the Diocese of Orange made promises to me and promises to my parents,” his statement read. “They promised that I would be safe at school. They also promised I would be part of a community, a community that would help me grow as a student, as a Catholic, as a human, and instead, they put me in path of a serial predator.”

The alleged incident was said to have happened at Mater Dei High School in 1978, when the man was 15.

According to the lawsuit, Harris allegedly summoned the student to his office to tell him his “grades were too poor to continue his education” at Mater Dei High School. The victim became distraught knowing how hard his mother had worked to get him enrolled.

The lawsuit claims Harris, who worked as a vice principal at the time, consoled the student before forcefully performing oral copulation during the encounter.

A press conference was held outside of Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove to announce a $3.5-million sex abuse settlement.

(James Carbone)

In a statement of their own, the Diocese of Orange said it was prepared to take the case to trial.

“All parties — the plaintiff, the Diocese’s insurers and the Diocese — agreed that a pretrial settlement was most beneficial to everyone involved,” said Jarryd Gonzales, a Diocese of Orange spokesperson.

The Catholic Church has paid out at least $10 million in civil cases involving Harris, who has never been criminally charged.

A $5.2-million settlement reached in 2001 was believed to be the largest publicly disclosed payment by the Catholic Church to a victim in a sex abuse lawsuit at that time.

Jeff Anderson and Associates represents seven cases involving the former priest, who was laicized in 2003, as well as eight Mater Dei High School cases.

According to court documents, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles listed Harris in its “Report to the People of God” in 2004. The suit alleges that the report tallied 12 accusers against him between 1972 and 1990.

Attorneys claimed that in the course of working on the Harris case, new details were discovered that were “absolutely shocking.”

“By the time he got to Mater Dei High School in 1975, he had already abused nine other students that we are aware of,” claimed attorney Neda Lofti. “Harris should have never gotten to Mater Dei High School.”

Lofti also claimed that new information was uncovered about other alleged sex abuse perpetrators at Mater Dei, including those hired by Harris himself.