We have reported several times on the negligent reporting by the Los Angeles Times on the Catholic Church abuse scandal. (See here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.) Last week, we reported on a glaring error about the scandal in an opinion article by Jason Berry.

In yesterday's Times (Sat. 11/17/07), a reader thoughtfully weighed in on this narrative in a way that the paper never has. From the Letters section:

Three things are never stressed in the incessant stories on Catholic clergy abuse:

• Almost none of the problems have occurred since 1992 (10 years before the Boston Globe expose). In that year, the Catholic hierarchy itself strongly addressed the matter.
• The level of proof has been pitifully low: not proof beyond reasonable doubt, not the preponderance of evidence, only a reasonable possibility of wrongdoing.
• Those forced to pay the huge sums of money to the accusers have not been the perpetrators.

Doesn't this bother anyone?

LARRY WALKER
Canoga Park

Nice letter, Larry!