Police arrest retired priest

Deepa Bharath

A 69-year-old Catholic priest who served as pastor at St. John the

Baptist church for 18 years was arrested Friday on suspicion of

molesting a local teenager 25 years ago, officials said.

Costa Mesa Police officers arrested Denis Lyons at his Leisure

World home in Seal Beach, Sgt. Bob Sizek said. Lyons was pastor of

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on Baker Street between October

1978 and January 1996.

The Orange County district attorney’s office charged Lyons, who

retired from the diocese last year, with one count of performing a

lewd and lascivious act against a child below 16 and four counts of

oral copulation. All are felonies.

Lyons was placed on administrative leave in April 24, 2002, when

he was senior priest at St. Edward’s Church in Dana Point. He retired

in July from the diocese.

He spent all of his years as a priest in Los Angeles and Orange

counties, but remained the longest time in the Costa Mesa church,

according to information released by the Diocese of Orange.

Sizek said the investigation began during spring 2002 when a man

told Costa Mesa Police of incidents involving him between 1978 and

1981.

The district attorney’s office released a detailed complaint

against Lyons from the 38-year-old man, whom they did not identify

because he is a victim. Prosecutors allege that Lyons befriended the

victim’s family and met with the boy’s father to discuss “family

issues.” The victim told officials that his father and Lyons drank

whiskey together at least 25 to 30 times over two years.

The victim was about 13 years old then and was sent by his family

for counseling sessions with Lyons because he had “behavior problems

and problems with alcohol,” according to the complaint.

The victim told officials that Lyons touched him inappropriately

and engaged in sexual acts during these counseling sessions.

Prosecutors say they also talked to three other victims who told

officials Lyons had molested them.

“The three other victims corroborated the evidence we already

had,” said Michelle Emard, spokeswoman for the Orange County district

attorney’s office.

The report says Lyons also molested the victim’s brother and that

the two men reported the alleged crimes to a representative of the

Catholic Church in 1995. The victims said they had at least three

meetings with Catholic Church officials.

Martin Benzoni, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church, declined

comment. The Diocese of Orange released a statement saying Bishop Tod

Brown placed Lyons on administrative leave after hearing about the

allegation from the Costa Mesa victim.

“It is heart-wrenching that a priest may have engaged in such

grave misconduct warranting criminal charges and an arrest,” the

bishop said in the statement. “It is our sincere hope that the system

of justice will be upheld.”

Lyons was held in Costa Mesa Jail on Friday evening in lieu of

$100,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at Harbor

Justice Center in Newport Beach. If convicted, Lyons faces up to 10

years and eight months in prison, Emard said.

Sizek said it is always a challenge for the police when crimes are

reported several years after they occur.

“With time, memories can be eroded,” he said. “It could be a

problem, but I don’t know if it will be a problem in this case.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].