Opinion ID: 2453320
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jemez Springs rehabilitation center

Text: A 1989 complaint related to Nash's behavior put an end to his trips with youth, and resulted in Nash attending a New Mexico retreat and treatment center, Jemez Springs, from January to May of 1990. Although Nash was never told the specifics of the 1989 complaint, based on counseling Nash received and his memory of the trips, Nash asserts that the complaint pertained to conduct along the lines of the other allegations against himtickling and massages. He had just returned from a trip with youth to San Francisco, which left him feeling burnt-out and unable to control the children with him. Nash attempted to resign from the priesthood after the complaints, but instead the bishop recommended Nash seek counseling at Jemez Springs. Nash went to Jemez Springs for a three-day evaluation. The evaluation included interviews, psychological exams, and physical examinations. Nash said he did not remember details from this 20-year-old evaluation, but said that he was not aware of any diagnosis of a psychological condition. Rather, the results showed that he was a physical and emotional wreck. Bishop Michael Kenny of Juneau recommended Nash stay at the facility and take part in a five-month renewal program called Foundation House. Nash did so. Father Liam Hoare is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor who was the director of Jemez Springs during the time Nash was there. He did not remember Nash specifically, but based on the limited remaining documentation of Nash's time at Jemez Springs, Father Hoare testified about the programs Nash would have participated in, and the history and purpose of the facility generally. In the 1950s and '60s the facility did not offer counseling, and was more of a home for priests who could not function in society. By the time Nash attended the facility, it had changed to essentially a medium-term inpatient counseling facility. Priests came to the facility for stress-related disorders, personality disorders, mid-life crises, vocational crises, discernment issues regarding whether to remain in the priesthood or not ... [as well as] [s]exuality issues, heterosexual issues, homosexual issues, human sexuality issues, interpersonal relationships. According to Nash, Jemez Springs had two facilities: one for priests facing allegations of sexual abuse, and another more general retreat. Nash stated that he was at the latter facility. Father Hoare stated that burn-out was the reason a lot of priests attended Jemez Springs. The five-month holistic renewal program in which Nash participated included emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical components. One aspect of the program emphasized diet and exercise. The counseling components included individual and group therapy, art therapy, psychodrama, journal workshops, lectures, and meditation. The facility kept reports of each participant's progress, but no reports on Nash are still available. Only a cover letter exists, and consistent with the facility's confidentiality policy, the cover letter asks the holder of the report to destroy the report after reading it. The facility itself kept a copy, but closed in 1995, and ultimately the new administration that later took over destroyed all old reports in 2003. When Nash requested the records, the facility rebuffed or denied his request. Nash expected the documents to come up in later litigation, and was willing to have that happen, but the records were gone by the time they were requested. Nash stated that Bishop Michael Kenny, who was then the bishop of Juneau, had destroyed the local diocese's copy, consistent with the requirements of the cover letter. However, contrary to that, one affidavit in the record implied that Nash destroyed the Juneau Diocese's copy of the records. The affidavit was introduced into the record by Nash, because it was background material used in a recent psychiatric exam of Nash. The affidavit is from a church employee who stated that in 1995 Nash had private access to the Diocese's files and an office shredder, and that she (the church employee) noticed manila envelopes containing the reports go missing at that time. One way or another, the reports of Nash's time at Jemez Springs were destroyed. However, there is evidence supporting Nash's contention that his treatment addressed burn-out, not pedophilia. Father Hoare's testimony indicated burn-out was a common reason priests would attend the facility. Also, the bishop allegedly wrote in Nash's personnel file that Nash was at Jemez Springs for himself & not because he had ever molested anyone and made other consistent remarks. A letter from the Archbishop Emeritus of Anchorage confirms, with personal knowledge, that Bishop Kenny considered Nash to be OK after Jemez Springs and returned Nash to his prior assignment. And Juneau's later bishop, Bishop Warfel, testified that when he took over as bishop in Juneau in the 1990s, his impression, based on discussions with Nash and other church officials, was that the allegations against Nash concerned little more than horse play and that Nash was at Jemez Springs for issues like burn-out and depression. Following his five months at Jemez Springs, Nash returned to working as a priest in Southeast Alaska. Father Hoare stated that Jemez Springs aggressively followed all government reporting requirements and would not have recommended a priest return to his regular position if the facility's staff felt the priest constituted a risk to either adults or children. Nash concluded that his conduct crossed appropriate pastoral boundaries, and he resolved to limit [his] contact with young people and not to do it again. The record does not include any allegations that Nash's conduct was improper after his departure from Jemez Springs.