'I do not deny it'- Former priest charged with child molestation walks freely

CALIFORNIA, Ventura (AP):

Carl Sutphin was a problem priest who left ministry in the Roman Catholic church just before being charged nearly a decade ago with 14 counts of molestation for sexually abusing six children.

He was never convicted of the charges, and he now lives in a double-wide mobile home in a quiet neighbourhood within two miles of a youth sports complex, a library, two day-care centres and at least two elementary schools. Sutphin admits he molested children as a priest, but his name doesn't show up in a sex-offender database as the charges were dismissed because too much time had elapsed.

The church

"I don't remember the numbers. I won't say I deny it. I do not deny it, no," Sutphin, who has been accused of abuse by 18 people, told The Associated Press. "The church could have acted quicker, I think, and sometimes reports were not made right away. In my case, some of the cases didn't come forward until 15 or 20 years later. ... So the church didn't do anything about it, they couldn't do anything about it."

Sutphin is one of dozens of former and current priests and religious brothers accused of childhood sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who now live unmonitored by civil authorities in communities across the state and nation. For many, the statute of limitations had expired by the time the abuse was reported, making it impossible for prosecutors to land convictions and subject the priests to sex-offender databases and monitoring.