Theodore Llanos

Father Theodore Llanos

On Sept. 16, 1994, Scott Griffith, then a 21-year-old college student, reported to the Los Angeles Archdiocese that Father Theodore Llanos had molested him for four years, beginning when he was a seventh-grader.

Dyer also informed the Griffiths that he intended to announce Llanos’ removal from St. Barnabas Church in Long Beach as an “administrative” move–something the Griffiths objected to as a cover-up.The archdiocese dispatched Monsignor Timothy J. Dyer to assure Griffith’s parents that the sexual abuse of their son had been an “isolated” incident, the first accusation in Llanos’ career of 22 years.

Within days, Llanos was sent for evaluation and treatment to St. Luke’s Institute in Maryland, where he reportedly admitted molesting 10 victims.

He turned himself in to police after arrest warrant in 11/95; faced 38 counts of molesting five boys since 1990. He was sued by six in 1996, and cases were dismissed due to SOL in 1996. He died by suicide in his Washington DC home in 12/96, age 50. Another civil suit was filed in 1997, two more in 2003, and had at least 21 victims of abuse, spanning 20 years. All included in massive LA archdiocese $660M settlement in 7/07. A suit claiming abuse 1988-92 of a boy, ages 8-12, was settled in 2020 in the low six figures.

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