Category:Archdiocese Of San Francisco
From Eurêka
Archdiocese of San Francisco
Archdiocese of San Francisco Archdiocese recorded 148 child-molestation cases involving more than 50 priests over a five-decade period, National Audit reported 3 February 2004.
William J. Levada Very Rev. William J. Levada (1936-), appointed Archbishop of San Francisco in December 1995, known for his conservative doctrinaire philosophy, projected himself as a reformer on the abuse issue, chastising some fellow bishops for not doing enough to remove miscreant priests from their domains during the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas 2002 which voted to remove from ministry any priest who had sexually abused a minor, even if the abuse occurred far in the past. Afterward Pope John Paul II felt the bishops' reforms were too severe and appointed Levada to help reconcile them with Vatican policy. The archbishop, in turn, asked Rev. Gregory Ingels (Ingels affair), a prominent canon lawyer and a longtime Levada favorite, to help write the guidelines for a “zero tolerance” sex-abuse policy that the pope could later sign off on. Levada helped shield the lawyer/priest for nine years.
- Levada promotion William J. Levada was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to what many consider to be the Roman Catholic Church's second most powerful position.
Independent Review Board Panel investigating sex-abuse allegations in the archdiocese chaired by James Jenkins, who accused church leaders of deception and manipulation for refusing to release the results, resigned, saying Archbishop William Levada had blocked the release of the panel's findings on sexual-abuse allegations involving 40 priests. Jenkins said the review panel could soon be reduced to nothing more than a public relations scheme by the archdiocese and he doubted the church can restore public trust given its leadership and what he called its state of corruption, reported 12 November 2004.
Ward case Former Catholic priest Bernie Ward (1951-), who had tenure at Cardinal Newman high school, before he became a popular San Francisco liberal radio talk show host, billed by his station as the "Lion of the Left," got on the Internet and downloaded and sent out images of child pornography. He even talked about it in an Internet chat room. He was the host of a nightly news talk program on KGO 810 AM as well as "God Talk" on Sundays - says he was doing research. Ward was indicted by a grand jury on two federal counts of Internet child pornography - allegations that he possessed and distributed images using his computer, 6 December 2007. Sentenced to seven years of prison, 27 August 2008.
- Priest indiscretion Two sexual misconduct complaints were made against Ward when he was a priest at Cardinal Newman high school. "We don't know for sure if Ward left the priesthood on his own or was forced out. He served under the Society of the Precious Blood and officials at the headquarters in Ohio tell us they checked Ward's file and found no information about sexual misconduct."
- Schwab accusation Rosanne Schwab testified Ward got her parents' approval to take her to the beach for a day when she was 17. "This was a different time and place where priests really were trusted, and so Bernie and I headed out to Bodega," says Schwab. On the way, Schwab says Ward stopped at a liquor store, bought a bottle of 151 rum. When they got to the beach, he parked on a cliff.... He produced a joint out of his pocket," says Schwab. Schwab says they smoked marijuana and drank. Then, Father Bernie began pressing her for intimate details of the sex life with her boyfriend. Then he started to molest her.
- Anon accusation Former student who was 16, related how Ward drove her to San Francisco for a prayer meeting. On the way back, they stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge and he pulled out a six-pack of Heineken. She says when Father Bernie tried to kiss her, she punched him in the stomach. When that girl told her parents they demanded a meeting with the principal of Cardinal Newman at the time, Father Bill Finn. Rosanne Schwab and her parents also came.
(alphabetical listing)
[more than 50 offenders identified, 30 listed]
Armstrong affair Rev. Peter Armstrong accused of abuse, August 1992.
Aylward case Rev. John Conley told diocese officials and authorities nearly five years earlier that he had walked in on a colleague straddling a kneeling 15-year-old altar boy in a dark rectory room. A few months later, Conley was placed on administrative leave. He has filed a lawsuit that accuses Archbishop Levada of retaliating against him for reporting the other priest, the Rev. James Aylward, to police. The archdiocese has denied any wrongdoing, and Aylward described the November 1997 incident as “horseplay and wrestling.” During a meeting with Archbishop Levada in late 1997, Father Conley, a former federal prosecutor, tried to record a conversation as directed by his lawyer. But the archbishop refused and, when Conley persisted, accused him of insubordination. Rev. Conley was then put on leave, a move the church said was unrelated. As for Aylward, police said they could not find sufficient evidence for charges, and a church inquiry ruled his behavior inappropriate but not sexual. Aylward continued to deny wrongdoing until 2000, when he admitted during a deposition to a history of touching boys, including wrestling with them for sexual pleasure. After the deposition, Aylward was placed on leave from his parish job, and later that year, the archdiocese paid a plaintiff $750,000.
Baquedano-Pech affair Rev. Theodore Baquedano-Pech accused of abuse.
Billante case Br. Salvatore Billante (Brother Sal), Salesian, was convicted of sexual abuse, sentenced to 4 years in jail 1994. New allegations arose in 2002.
Carter affair Rev. Daniel E. Carter at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont, was suspended in August 2002 pending civil suit alleging sexual abuse of teenage girl. The archdiocese took the unusual step of reinstating him before the lawsuit was resolved April 2003. Danielle LaCampagne filed a civil lawsuit and there was at least one other victim who was not made public.
Cunha case Rev. Arthur Manuel Cunha convicted of abuse of boys, one plaintiff received a $640,000 settlement, 1994.
Dabbene case Rev. Bernard Dabbene convicted for abuse of teenage boy 2000.
Durkin affair Rev. Charles Durkin accused of abuse, 2002.
Gutierrez affair Br. Joseph Jesse Gutierrez (New name, Jesse Gutierrez-Cervantes), Christian Brother, accused of abuse, settled for $4 million, January 2005.
Harrison case Arthur Harrison (1931-), who served at Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church in Novato, was charged with committing a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14, a 10-year-old girl, May 1961. Court records indicate a woman reported August 2002 that she was sexually abused by Harrison and that he subsequently admitted the conduct to a Novato police detective. Charged 9 May 2003. Charges dropped due to Supreme Court ruling. Still a Priest.
Heaney affair Monsignor John P. Heaney spent 30 years ministering to San Francisco police was accused of molesting a boy in the 1960s. Removed 2002, indicted 2003.
Ingels affair Rev. Gregory Ingels, a prominent canon lawyer and a longtime William J. Levada favorite, has had two serious sexual-abuse cases filed against him, one of which the church agreed to settle by paying an alleged victim $2.7 million. Charges dropped due to Supreme Court ruling 2003.
Ispen affair Coach Michael settled alleged abuse 1992.
Keegan case (1935-) Rev. Austin Peter Keegan, with a 30-year record of sex crimes, was transferred from parish to parish in San Francisco, then to Santa Rosa. After stripping Keegan of his priestly duties, having spent $2.4 million in legal costs because of his alleged molestation of children, the San Francisco Archdiocese paid the disgraced priest $900 a month “basic sustenance” payments for more than four years, starting in 1998 having denied his request for a pension “because he was not a priest in good standing.” Finally Keegan fled from his Oceanside home to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in September 2002 after learning of a $5 million warrant issued for his arrest on 25 child molestation and sodomy charges involving two San Francisco boys during the 1960s, that stemmed from a San Francisco grand jury indictment. Arrested on 40 counts of abuse of 3 boys at resort town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 1 March 2003. Freed after Supreme Court sex crime ruling of 26 June 2003.
- McAteer accusation 10-year-old Terry McAteer, whose father, a former state senator, had just suddenly died, was befriended by Keegan who offered to take him to Disneyland to soften the blow. It turned out to be two nights of torture, suffocation, brutal acts and rape, that would leave him describing his life as a roller coaster ride, 1997.
Kiesle case Rev. Stephen Kiesle accused of abuse of children, convicted 1978.
Leach affair Rev. Jerome Leach (Jerry Leach) arrested for alleged abuse of altar boy 2002, Charges dropped after Supreme Court sex crime ruling of 26 June 2003.
Light accusation Terrie Light, who said she was raped by a priest in Hayward when she was 7 and was unable to reveal it until after he died in 1998, 39 years after the crime. She is now a spokeswoman for the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “He choked me and threatened me and told me that I would burn in hell if I ever told,” she said. “It takes a long time to undo that.”
Moriarty affair Br. John Moriarty, Christian Brother, accused of abuse, settled.
Murnig affair Rev. Guy Anthony Murnig was arrested for alleged abuse of 15 year-old girl 2002. Charges dropped due to Supreme Court ruling of 26 June 2003.
Niece affair Catholic Worker house in Half Moon Bay continued to operate after its co-founder and current director pleaded no contest to charges of soliciting a woman for sex. In October 2007, a 35-year old woman filed a complaint with the San Mateo County district attorney, alleging that Michael David Niece (1942-), who helped found the Coastside Catholic Worker in 2000, had offered her money if she would agree to have sex with him.
O'Connor affair Rev. John O'Connor accused of abuse. Leave of absence, 2002.
O’Shea case Msgr. Patrick O’Shea of San Francisco, charged with 224 sex-molestation charges against nine boys in 1960s-70s, arrested in 1995, had his charges dismissed because of statute of limitations by state appeals court 1997. Again charges that he had molested nine former altar boys when he was a priest at churches in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, having been defrocked, dismissed 14 March 2002. But was jailed on counts filed fall 2002, held on $2.2 million bail. San Francisco grand jury lodged two additional child molestation charges against him by two boys when they were 11 to 13 at Lake Berryessa, 1970s. The two additional counts added $500,000 to O’Shea's bail, 28 March 2003. Freed after Supreme Court sex crime ruling of 26 June 2003. Received a four year sentence 4 February 2004.
- O’Shea lawsuit Archdiocese agreed to pay a total of $4 million to settle four lawsuits filed by O’Shea victims. The largest of the four settlement awards went to Kenneth McDonald, who received $1.7 million, 2 September 2005. McDonald claimed O'Shea began molesting him in 1968 when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and student at Mission Dolores Basilica. The molestation continued for two years during trips to Lake Berryessa, where the priest owned a cabin.
- See also O’Shea embezzlement
Pritchard affair Serial pedophile Rev. Joseph Pritchard (d. 1988), a Junipero Serra High School priest in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, preyed on children of devout families, betraying their trust in the church said seven survivors abused by him, reported January 2003. Archdiocese of San Francisco agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle a dozen lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Pritchard, 8 July 2005.
- Pritchard nephew abuse Lawsuit by Joseph Pritchard’s nephew stated, “Commencing in approximately 1956, on at least two or more occasions, after family holiday parties in which Pritchard had been drinking alcohol for several hours, Pritchard chose to bring plaintiff to his living quarters at Serra High School to spend the night with him...the molestation stopped only after the nephew told his mother, who told church authorities in 1959. His brother revealed that he had also been sexually abused by Pritchard,” reported January 2004.
- St. Martin of Tours lawsuits Filed by 19 victims who attended St. Martin of Tours parish school in San Jose, where Pritchard served as pastor after leaving Serra High. Altar boy Dennis Kavanaugh testified he was molested between 20 and 30 times by Pritchard while he was a student at St. Martin of Tours, in the early 1970s. Jury verdict awarded Kavanaugh $437,000, 25 March 2005. A settlement was reached with 10 other plaintiffs who said they were molested by Pritchard when he was pastor at St. Martin of Tours parish in San Jose, June 2005.
Riley affair Rev. Miles O'Brien Riley accused of abuse, denied allegations, 2002.
Rose affair Br. Charles Anthony Rose (Raimond), Christian Brother, accused of abuse, settled.
Stanislaus affair Br. Wellington Joseph Stanislaus (Brother Stan), Jesuit, accused of sexual abuse, arrested 2003.
Superiaso case Rev. Jose Superiaso (1954-), ordained in his native Philippines, served as a priest at Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Belmont and at Our Lady of the Pillar Church in Half Moon Bay, was arrested while working at St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, NM, 10 June 2003 on the California charges on a felony warrant charging him with 24 counts of child molestation with a 12-year-old Filipino immigrant girl while he worked at St. Andrew, a Daly City church, who said the molestation began July 1994 and continued to November 1995. The victim testified that Superiaso performed sexual acts with her once or twice a week over the course of more than a year, ranging from fondling to sexual intercourse. Superiaso moved to Santa Fe, NM, to work as a priest on an Indian reservation 1998. Trial began following months of legal wrangling that the constitutional statute of limitations had expired, 23 August 2004. In opening statements, the prosecutor read from a letter Superiaso written on the day of his arrest. “I come here fully resigned to accept responsibility and beg for your forgiveness and understanding.” “The truth in the case is that the defendant took this child and robbed her of her innocence and plunged her into an abyss of shame, fear, anger and unimaginable trauma.” Superiaso was found not guilty of three charges, and the jury deadlocked on 18 similar charges, the judge declared a mistrial on those counts, 17 September 2004. Retried on 18 felony counts May 2005.
Trainor affair Rev. Henry J. Trainor accused of abuse, 2002.
Van Handel case Rev. Robert Van Handel, Franciscan Friar, convicted of abuse of boy, sentenced to 8 years in prison 1994.
Walsh affair Rev. Milton T. Walsh charged with alleged abuse of 13 year-old boy, 2002. Charges dropped due to Supreme Court ruling 2003.
Whelan affair Rev. Stephen Whelan of the Salesian order of San Francisco, a vice principal, abused an altar boy when he was a freshman and sophomore at the high school from 1969 to 1971, and in July 2006, a jury “found in favor of Joey Piscitelli, a former altar boy who he abused.”
Note Salesian order review board found Whelan credible, and Joey Piscitelli was not.
