Subject: Mater Dei High School

• Fun with Brackets, Mexican Style!

  The following message was left on a Weekling answering machine. But as you read this, keep in mind that a more competent and diligent and unbigoted school administrator than Frances Claire you'll never know. We just could not resist the urge to mischievously insert phrases in [BRACKETS] throughout her message. Check it out: Good morning, this is Frances Claire, principal of Mater Dei High School, with a special announcement. In response to yesterday's civil demonstrations [BY MEXICANS], please

  March 28, 2006

• Mater Hey!

  Glad to see the Los Angeles Times follow up earlier this week on the Mater Dei High girl-diddling basketball coach scandal we wrote about in April. Yesterday, a judge ruled attorney John Manly can interrogate anyone he damn wants for the civil trial. Might one of those people be Orange County Treasurer candidate Patrick Desmond? According to Desmond's ballot statement (which we have on our desk but, since we don't know how to scan you'll have to see here), the man was CFO for Mater Dei for a sh

  May 26, 2006

• The Devil Plays for Mater Dei

  Mater Dei High is a haven for cover-ups (see our Ex Cathedra archives), but none are lamer than the one attempted by head football coach Bruce Rollinson in today's typical OC Register Mater Dei blowjob. Register sports writer Carlos Arias (who is a great boxing writer--too bad nobody sees the sport anymore) begins the piece by telling readers the Monarchs' offensive line is known as the "War Pigs," then asks Rollinson where he got the nickname. "He doesn't remember where they got the name, but t

  October 12, 2006

• Another Black Eye for Mater Dei

  The culture of pedophilia at Mater Dei High School has hit the big time. Today, The New York Times examines the rash of non-clerical sex-abuse cases involving the Catholic Church. Mentioned in the second paragraph was Joelle Casteix, a longtime advocate for sex-abuse survivors who was herself a victim of a choir teacher during the 1980s. "Court records indicate," Times reporter Bruce Lambert writes, "that several other staff members—including teachers, a counselor and a coach—also ab

  May 15, 2007

• Breaking: OC Diocese Lawyers Seek to Seal Bishop Brown Deposition

  Over the weekend, attorneys with the firm of Manly, McGuire & Stewart deposed former Catholic Diocese of Orange Bishop Norman McFarland and current bishop Tod D. Brown as part of the firm's ongoing lawsuit against the Orange Diocese, Mater Dei High School, and former boy's basketball coach Jeff Andrade (click here for the Weekly's coverage of the lawsuit). Now, sources tell the Weekly that lawyers for the Orange diocese successfully convinced a judge to stop Brown's deposition midway through his

  September 11, 2007

• Statutory Rapist Andrade And Pals Seek to Block Many Things

  A slew of in limine motions filed this past week by former Mater Dei High School boys' basketball coach/admitted statutory rapist Jeff Andrade and his former employers, the Catholic Diocese of Orange. Andrade's lawyers moved that any potential jury not hear "in any manner, either directly or indirectly, any reference to documentation, witness testimony and/or opinions that refer to any allegation that [Andrade] was criminally prosecuted or not criminally prosecuted as a result of his sexual rela

  September 25, 2007

• Breaking: Orange Diocese Settles Andrade Case

  Scroll down for updates as they come... Just received word that the Catholic Diocese of Orange just settled a civil suit filed against it and former Mater Dei High School boys' basketball coach Jeff Andrade. Strange, considering diocesan lawyers were publicly proclaiming they were raring to start the trial. And isn't it convenient that they announce it on a Friday afternoon, just as the weekend starts and reporters are busy planning how to lose the weekend in a glass of Jack Daniels? Details as

  October 5, 2007

• Statement by John Manly on Settlement Against Orange Diocese

  Here's John Manly, the Newport Beach lawyer who represented four sex-abuse victims of employees with the Orange diocese, on the $6.885 million settlement announced this afternoon: Today, Bishop Tod Brown and the Diocese of Orange agreed, at the point of a legal gun and on the eve of trial, to settle four civil cases brought by women who were sexually abused as young girls between 1991 and 1999 by employees of the Diocese of Orange. Most of the abuse took place in the mid to late 1990s by sta

  October 5, 2007

• Mater Dei Writes A Lot, Says Nothing

  Today, officials at Mater Dei High School sent out a two-page memo to alumni regarding the recent settlement involving the Catholic Diocese of Orange and four young women who claim they were abused by diocesan lay employees during the 1990s. Two of the perpetrators-- Jeff Andrade and Larry Stukenholtz--worked as assistant boys' basketball coach and choir director at the school, respectively. Both of them admitted to their guilt--Andrade in a sworn deposition, Stukenholtz as part of Mater Dei's i

  October 8, 2007

• Bishop Brown Too Nice for Once!

  On Oct. 9, Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown issued a letter to the county's Catholics explaining his recent $6.685 million settlement with four sex-abuse victims of diocesan lay employees. He talked about apologizing to two of the victims (read a different account here), about how sex abuse is wrong, and all that jazz. Then His Excellency said the strangest thing about Mater Dei High School, where two of the settled cases occurred:

  October 12, 2007

• Accused Mater Dei Statutory Rapist Loses Again

  It hasn't been a good couple of months for Larry Stukenholtz, a former Mater Dei High choir director whom the school canned in the late 1990s for carrying on a relationship with a student. In October, his victim was part of a $6.685 million settlement that the Catholic Diocese of Orange reached with four girls molested by diocesan employees. Stukeholtz also lost his job as a music teacher at St. Louis Community College after its Board of Trustees unanimously voted to boot the bum out. Now come

  February 7, 2008

• A Record Broken, A Promise Kept

  I didn't think it would happen, but it finally did: the back-and-forth between Catholic sex-abuse survivor advocates and a bunch of idiots posted yesterday is now the most-commented story in Navel Gazing history, beating Scott Moxley's news of Carona's indictment. Congrats, wackies! In better news, we finally have an entrant in our Mater Dei High School apologist contest: the anonymous commentator who calls himself "Annoyed" sent the Weekly a copy of angry letters he (she?) sent to Diocese of O

  February 19, 2008

• Last Night: Culture Clash in AmeriCCa

  Rather than offer a straightforward review of Culture Clash's Culture Clash in AmeriCCa at South Coast Repertory (anything these guys do is genius, and this show is no different), here's some notes from the Friday night premiere: *FACES IN THE CROWD: Orange County Business Journal honcho Rick Reiff, legendary slumlord George Argyros and his gracious wife, Judy, and too many coffin dodgers to count. *MOST SHAMELESS PLUG: In the very beginning, when Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza prepare to in

  March 24, 2008

• Former Mater Dei Principal Dead, Supervised Ramos

  Former Catholic Diocese of Stockton Bishop Donald Montrose died last week, and why should you care? Besides the fact he was the founding principal of Mater Dei High School, Montrose also unleashed Eleuterio Ramos upon Orange County parishes. Ramos, of course, is the county's worst admitted priestly pedophile--he confessed to molesting "at least 25" boys." It didn't have to be this way: in 1975, Ramos was a priest at Resurrection Church in East Los Angeles when he molested a boy. Montrose was mo

  May 13, 2008

• Newish Lawsuit Filed Against Mater Dei Statutory Rapist Jeff Andrade

  The pedophilic piñata that is Mater Dei High School just keeps on producing lawsuits alleging sex abuse. Recently revealed is yet another one filed May 31 (but recently unsealed) in Orange County Superior Court by a former Mater Dei student against former assistant boys' basketball coach Jeff Andrade (pictured). The lawsuit alleges Andrade began molesting the student in 1990 when she was 17 and involved penetration, forced oral copulation, and other wholesome student-teacher activities long con

  August 19, 2008

• On A Flippant Attitude Toward the Diocese of Orange Sex Abuse Scandal

  September 18, 2008

• Bishop Brown Invites Pedo-Apologist Bishop to Deliver Red Mass Homily

  In a county where ostentatious pomp and circumstance is the rule of the day, few events are more despicable than the Red Mass, an annual event held by the Diocese of Orange where Bishop Tod D. Brown virtually guarantees no prosecution for his pedo-priests by honoring the entire legal system--judges, attorneys, and cops--in a night filled with uniforms. I've written about previous versions of this ceremony (but can't find the damn hyperlink right now...), but none will be as offensive as the one

  October 1, 2008

• Time to Chuck Smith

  March 9, 2000

• The Deification of Gary McKnight Must Stop

  Both the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register have tripped over themselves this month in the attempt to give the swooning-est review of Mater Dei High's current varsity basketball squad and its head coach, Gary McKnight. The Times says McKnight "is used to ridiculous riches,"while Reg columnist Mark Whicker contributed another Valentine, noting the largest Catholic school west of Chicago were "pioneers in making high school basketball a nationally played sport, for good or ill."Probl

  December 17, 2008

• KOCE Diocese of Orange Docu Blind To Reality

  One of my favorite channels is KOCE-TV Channel 50's OC Channel, available only on digital antennas (and have you changed your analog TV yet to satisfy the NWO?). It airs nothing but Orange County-related material--not just reruns of KOCE's Real Orange and Inside OC with Rick Reiff, but also weird infomercials and Chapman University-produced programs. But my favorite shows are OC-related documentaries--some years old, others not as much. I'll write about them as I see fit, but one deserves immedi

  January 19, 2009

• Some Tips for Servite High Fans Today As Their School's Boys Basketball Teams Faces Mater Dei

  Dear Servite High students:You boys disappoint me. For years, I've sung your praises as a school that doesn't truly tolerate teen rapists like your eternal rivals, Mater Dei High School. But a couple of weeks ago, you earned worldwide notoriety for making racist chants again an African-American Mater Dei boys' basketball player. That's horrible, and you should never do that again. Almost as bad, however, was learning that ustedes have jeered Mater Dei's coach, the portly Gary McKnight, in the pa

  January 28, 2009

• The Perverted Albert Lee Schildknecht, Admitted Teen Molester

  Amazing news: A music director for a Catholic institution will get penalized for abusing a teen, and the institution is not Mater Dei High! Albert Lee Schildknecht, former music director of St. Timothy Church in Laguna Niguel (current home of pedo-apologist John Urell) received probation last Friday for agreeing to plead guilty to molesting a 15-year-old in the late 1990s. It continues the Orange diocese's amazing, disgusting record of having seen only one of its employees go immediately to pris

  February 2, 2009

• Why Does Dana Point's St. Edward the Confessor Church Continue to Honor A Teen Rapist?

  Leninan second from right, in a picture Brown would eventually StalinizePoor St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point. They have the inglorious Diocese of Orange record of having hosted the most pedo-priests (five) in its history. Just recently, Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown settled another suit involving one of them: Denis Lyons. So, a question: given this sordid past, why on Earth does the parish continue to honor teenage rapist John Lenihan?On its history page, the St. Edward the C

  March 6, 2009

• It's a Quick Read 9: Weekend and Monday Edition

  Orange County Register: 700 lbs. tires were flipped, hunks of steel were moved and a U-Haul truck was upended at Main Beach in Huntington Beach on Saturday. No, it was not another joy-riding HBPD cop. It was Southern California's Strongest Man competition. . . . Mexican immigrants are returning home because of the shitty economy. Look for the CCIR to get into the foreclosure/failing bank/insurance giant collapse/disappearing financial services firms/Ponzi scheme industry. . . . Mater Dei Hi

  March 9, 2009

• Joelle Casteix Fights for Catholic Church Sex-Abuse Victims While Pursuing Her Own Abuser

  July 10, 2008

• The Catholic Diocese of Orange's History Book Is Pretty-and Pretty Pathetic

  May 29, 2008

• Sister Knows Best

  If the nuns in charge of the St. Joseph Health System are so pro-labor,why are some of their employees determined to unionize?

  November 29, 2007

• OC's Scariest People

  Our Congressional delegation tops this year’s list of 33 villains (31 for October, plus two more to get to the Dia de los Muertos, ese)

  October 25, 2007

• Letters

  I hate Mexicans

  September 6, 2007

• McKnight Out

  February 22, 2007

• McKnight Moves

  February 1, 2007

• McKnight Fall

  January 25, 2007

• Letters

  'Genius? That wouldnt be for me to decide. Reaching thousands of people from a dark little garage in Costa Mesa, that certainly takes talent.'

  January 11, 2007

• The Year in Letters

  Keep It Up. You Rock. Dont Ever Change. All That Crap.

  December 28, 2006

• Letters

  'They tried to portray Ashley as some weird loner who somehow deserved to get shot. The two policemen who fired 18 bullets at this teenager need to be brought to justice'

  September 28, 2006

• Letters

  May 18, 2006

• The Year In College Football

  December 30, 2004

• Diary of A Mad County

  December 16, 2004

• Sexual Reeling

  How the Register blew the Orange Diocese sex-abuse story

  December 9, 2004

• Letters

  August 26, 2004

• Diary of a Mad County

  Diary of a Mad County

  April 8, 2004

• Letters

  April 1, 2004

• Nowhere Man

  November 20, 2003

• How to Go From Codpieces to Country Like Walter Clevenger

  November 20, 2003

• Diary of a Mad County

  April 17, 2003

• Letters

  December 13, 2001

• Tortalicious!

  December 9, 1999

• From "Acknowledged Leader" to Convicted Felon for Reed Diehl

  Reed Diehl, during better days at Cal.UPDATED WITH THE TWO CENTS OF THE FBI...With the guilty plea in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme entered by Reed Diehl, the standout Mater Dei High School center who went on to an impressive college football career at the University of California and a brief stint with the Tennessee Titans, it's interesting to look back at some of what was written years ago about the Coto de Caza man now facing up to 70 years in prison. (See refinement of this by the FBI

  July 14, 2009

• Will Pete Carroll and Matt Barkley Prove Critics Wrong?

  USC starting quarterback Matt Barkley hopes to flash the victory sign a lot in the years ahead. Pete Carroll's stunning announcement that the pride of Mater Dei High Matt Barkley will become the first freshman to enter the season as the starting quarterback for Southern Cal's living legend coach has turned the college football world on its head.   Not that the kid ain't talented.

  August 28, 2009

• Roman Polanski and His Supporters No Better than OC Pedo-Priests and their Apologists

  I'm glad to see that prominent Catholic church sex-abuse victims advocate and Orange County resident/native Joelle Casteix is publicly criticizing the perverted director Roman Polanski and his apologists.They remind me of those ghouls, many Mater Dei High graduates, who offer every sort of excuse for an admitted rapist, who say forced sodomy was just a misunderstanding, who throw going-away parties for pedophiles, who prop up molesters with cushy jobs, who say the victim wanted it so that makes

  October 1, 2009