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Sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco

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The sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco was one of the most prominent episodes in the sexual abuse scandal in the United States during the late 20th and early 21th centuries. The Archdiocese of San Francisco covers the City of San Francisco and two counties in the Bay Area of California.

As of 2025, five clerics from the archdiocese had been convicted of sexual abuse crimes. Their sentences ranged from probation to eight years in prison. Their victims ranged in age from 11- to 17-years old. A change in the statute of limitations law in California in 1993 prompted the indictments and prosecutions of many clerics accused of abuse in the 1960s and 1970's. Their victims testified about being raped and forced into oral sex and masturbation. However, a US Supreme Court decision that year overturned the statute of limitations law, forcing the dismissal or overturning of all these cases.

Beginning in the 1990's, the archdiocese started facing a wave of civil lawsuits by sexual abuse victims. By 2018, it had paid $87 million in financial settlements to victims. However, the unresolved lawsuits reached 500 by 2023, forcing the archdiocese to seek bankruptcy protection.

Actions by State of California

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The State of California had eased its statute of limitations requirements in 1993 for sexual abuse cases that were previously too old to be prosecuted. However, the US Supreme Court overturned that law in 2004. As a result, prosecutors were forced to file for dismissal of numerous cases of sexual abuse by clerics throughout the state.[1]

In May 2019, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra opened an investigation into how the Catholic dioceses in California handled sexual abuse allegations. He directed the dioceses to preserve all of their sexual abuse records.[2]

California in January 2023 expanded its statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes, increasing the opportunities for victims to sue for crimes happening when they were children.[3]

Actions by Archdiocese of San Francisco

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In November 2018, Archbishop Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone reported that the archdiocese spent $87 million to settle 125 sexual abuse lawsuits He said that no sexual abuse incidents had been reported in the archdiocese since 2000.[4]

In August 2023, the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the San Francisco County Superior Court in order to create a settlement for an estimated 500 sexual abuse lawsuits that it was facing.[5]In April 2025, the bankruptcy court ordered the archdiocese to provide access to certain record to attorneys involved in sexual abuse lawsuits. It was revealed that as early as 2003 the archdiocese had created a secret list of 51 priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse.[6]

Sexual abuse convictions

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The following priests and religious brother who served in the Archdiocese of San Francisco were convicted in an American court of sexual abuse crimes.

Brother Salvatore Billante

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During the 1970s Billante, a member of the Salesian order, was assigned as a teacher to the Corpus Christi Parish school in the Excelsior District of San Francisco. The Salesians then sent him to teach at the Salesian High School in Richmond. He later admitted to sexually abusing 15 children at these two schools.[7][8] Billante pleaded guilty in November 1989 to one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a boy under age 14.[8] He was sentenced in 1989 to eight years in San Quentin Prison. He was released after four years.[9][10]

In September 2002, San Francisco Police arrested Billante: he was charged with 181 counts of child molestation. Two men had accused him of sexually assaulting them at Salesian High School.[10] However, this later case was dropped in 2004 due to the US Supreme Court decision on the California statute of limitations.

Reverend Arthur Manuel Cunha

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In 1986, Cunha was dining with an 11-year-old boy at a restaurant in Pacifica. A waitress thought his behavior with the boy was inappropriate and reported him to the local police. They contacted police in Novato, where Cunha was assigned as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Loretto parish. After an investigation, the Novato police arrested Cunha and charged him with a sexual abuse crime.[11]In 1991, he pleaded guilty to molesting two boys from the parish and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and four months of counseling.[12]

Reverend Bernard Dabbene

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In 1959, Dabbene, a member of the Salesian order, was a teacher at the Salesian High School. George Stein, a ninth grade student then, said that Dabbene started kissing him one day. When the Salesian provincial visited the school, Stein complained to him about Dabbene. However, the Salesians did nothing.[7]

In November 2000, police arrested Dabbene in San Francisco on charges of assault with intent to commit oral copulation and false imprisonment, and misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a child and sexually battery. At that time, Dabbene was serving on the board of education for the archdiocesan schools. Police had found Dabbene and a 17-year-old in a car with their pants unzipped. The boy said that Dabbene kept him from getting out and fondled him.[13]In March 2001, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of molesting a minor and was sentenced to probation with community service.[14]

Reverend Carl Anthony Schipper

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In 2000, Schipper was an academic dean at Saint Patrick's Seminary and University in Menlo Park. Since September 1999, he had been engaged in a series of online chats with a 13-year-old boy who was actually an undercover police officer. Schipper was arrested in March 2000 in Santa Rosa and charged with five counts of shipping harmful matter to minors over the internet.[15] He pleaded guilty in August 2000 and was sentenced in November 2000 to six months in jail and probation.[16][17]

Reverend Jose Superiaso

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Superiaso, a priest from the Philippines, was having an secret affair with a young adult woman in Daly City in 1994 and 1995. At that time, he was serving in a pastoral role at St. Andrews Parish in that city.[18] What the woman did not know was that he was also molesting her 12-year-old sister while taking care of her. When the older sister found out about the molestation in 2003, she reported it to police in Daly City. At that time, Superiaso was ministering at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The victim persuaded him to come to California to meet her at a restaurant in Daly City, where police took Superiaso into custody.[19][20]

Superioso was charged with 25 counts of child molestation in June 2003. In September 2004, his jury was unable to come to a verdict due to disagreements as to whether the victim had been under age 14. The judge declared a mistrial.[21] [22]After prosecutors decided to retry him, Superiaso in pleaded guilty in June 2006 to six counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under the age of 14. He was sentenced to ten years in prison in California.[22]

Notable cases

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The clerics in this section were indicted on sexual abuse crimes, but their cases were dismissed or overturned in court due to a change in the state statute of limitations.[1]

Reverend Austin Peter Keegan

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In 1967, ten-year-old Terence McAteer was on a family trip to Disneyland with Keegan, a family friend. Keegan was then serving in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. While alone one night with Keegan at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, the priest anally raped the boy and forced him to perform oral sex. McAteer reported the incident in 1976 to Archbishop Joseph Thomas McGucken of San Francisco and Bishop Mark Hurley of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, where Keegan had been serving since 1975.[23]

In May 1994, Keegan was accused in a lawsuit, along with two other priests, of having sexually molested nine altar boys between 1964 and 1980.[24] No longer practising as a priest, Keegan was then living in Baja California in Mexico.[25]In September 2002 Keegan, now residing in Oceanside, California, was indicted in San Francisco on charge that he molested two boys during the 1970s. One of the victims was McAteer and the other was Stephen Garibaldi. Keegan immediately fled to Mexico. Mexican police in March 2003 arrested Keegan in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.[26] Prosecutors were ready to try Keegan, but the overturn of the California law on the statute of limitations ended the case.

Reverend Gregory G. Ingels

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In 1972, Ingels was a deacon teaching at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield. Participating in a family outing that summer at Muir Beach, he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old male student. Ordained in 1974, Ingels became a prominent canon lawyer working directly for the archdiocese. In 1996, the victim complained to the archdiocese about the Muir Beach incident. The archdiocese allegedly investigated the claim, but did nothing about it.[27]

In early 2003, Jane Parkhurst, a former student at Marin Catholic, told police that Ingels had sexually assaulted from 1973 to 1977. During the assaults, Ingels would masturbate her and have her engage in oral sex. In April 2003, during a phone conversation monitored by police, Ingels implicated himself to Parkhurst. Ingels was charged in May 2003 on charges of "substantial sexual conduct with the 1972 victim.[27] Prosecutors were ready to file charges in the Parkhurst case, However, the overturn of the California law on the statute of limitations ended both criminal cases.[28]

Monsignor Patrick O'Shea

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O'Shea during the 1960s and 1970s was serving in parishes in the archdiocese. He would frequently socialize with his altar boys, taking them on field trips or hosting them at his mobile home at Lake Berryessa. At the lake, he would take the boys water skiing, then bring them back to the mobile home to drink beer. At night, he would bring one boy into his bedroom to sleep with him.[29]

In May 1994, O'Shea was accused in a lawsuit, along with two other priests, of having sexually molested nine altar boys between 1964 and 1980. At the time the lawsuit was filed, he was serving as pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in San Francisco.[24] O'Shea was indicted in January 1995 on sexual abuse charges. In July 1995, a municipal judge dismissed all the charges against O'Shea due to the statute of limitations.[30]

In March 1996, the archdiocese negotiated a $2.5 million financial settlement with 15 men who had claimed sexual abuse by O'Shea and two other priests.[31]O'Shea in June 1996 was charged with embezzling $260,000 from the archdiocese, St. Cecilia and other parties.[32]After a change in state law in 1997, prosecutors refiled 16 criminal charges against O'Shea., but they were dismissed in court in May 1998. After another court ruling in 1999, O'Shea was again charged, this time with 224 counts. However, yet again, they were all dismissed in 2002. After spending two years in jail awaiting trial, he was released.[33]O'Shea pleaded guilty of embezzlement in January 2002 and ordered to pay $187,000 in restitution.[30]

Reverend Joseph Pritchard

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Pritchard in the 1950s was teaching at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, then part of the archdiocese. During this period, he started sexually abusing his nephew, then age 10. When the boy finally told his mother about the abuse, she went to the high school principal to complain about Pritchard. However, nothing was done.[34]

During the 1970's, Pritchard was pastor at St. Martin de Tours Parish in San Jose He would welcome boys into his rectory apartment to play cards and watch TV. However, he would also reach into their pants to fondle their genitals. When the father of one boy complained to the archdiocese, they removed Pritchard from St. Martin and sent him to therapy. In 1978, he was assigned to St. Nicholas Parish in Los Altos.[35]

In April 2002, 16 men told the Mercury News that they had been abused at St. Martin in the 1970s. Two of these men sued the Diocese of San Jose in August 2002.[36] Dennis Kavanaugh, a former altar boy at St. Mary, also sued the archdiocese and the Diocese of San Jose in January 2003.[37]Five men and one women filed lawsuits regarding abuse by Pritchard in May 2003.[38]Pritchard's nephew, whom he abused in the 1950s, filed a lawsuit in December 2003.[25]

In March 2005, a jury awarded Kavanaugh $437,000.[39]The archdiocese in July 2005 agree to a financial settlement exceeding $16 million to settle 15 sexual abuse lawsuits against Pritchard.[40] In August 2023, two new plaintiffs were ready to file lawsuits against the archdiocese regarding abuse by Pritchard. However, the filing of bankruptcy by the archdiocese put their plans on hold. In April 2025, the bankruptcy judge allow the case to proceed.[41]

Reverend Wellington Joseph Stanislaus

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During the late 1960s, Stanislaus, a member of the Society of Jesus, was teaching at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, then part of the archdiocese. During a student retreat, he made sexual advances to two students. After the students complained to the Jesuits, they removed Stanislaus from Bellarmine and instead allowed him to open the Novitiate Home for Boys, a group home for delinquent youths in Los Gatos.[42]

By 1969, Stanislaus was volunteering at the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall in San Jose as well as operating the Novitiate Home . A man later identified in court as "Chuck" said he was a 16-year-old runaway teenager at that time. Stanislaus befriended him at the juvenile hall and invited him to move to the Novitiate Home. Chuck said that at the home, Stanislaus would fondle him at night. Over the years, Chuck attempted to notify others about these crimes, but got no response.[43] In 1971, due to sexual abuse complaints, the Jesuits transferred Stanislaus to St. Francis Xavier Parish in Phoenix to work in a youth program. They dismissed him from the order in 1972.[43]

Stanislaus was arrested in Santa Clara in April 2003 on two felony charges of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy in the 1960s.[42]However, his charges were dismissed in 2003 due to the overturning of the state statute of limitations.[44]

Reverend Milton T. Walsh

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Walsh in 1984 was a pastor at Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Novato. He was invited to the family birthday party of a 13-year-old boy. Walsh had previously fondled the boy at a country club that summer and did so again after the birthday party. The next day, the boy's family complained to the archdiocese.[45] Archbishop John R. Quinn told the family that Walsh, his former personal secretary, would get professional help and be kept safe.

In May 2002, the archdiocese informed police about the Walsh accusations. At this time. Walsh was serving as a professor at Saint Patrick Seminary. The police in turn contacted the victim, who agreed to call Walsh with them listening in. During the phone conversation, Walsh incriminated himself. He was indicted in October 2002 on two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old.[45] After the overturn of the California law on the statute of limitations by the US Supreme Court, the charges against Walsh were dropped.[46]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Lane, Charles; Walsh, Edward (2003-06-27). "Court Strikes Down California Law That Lifted Statute of Limitations". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  2. ^ "California attorney general opens review of church files on abuse". National Catholic Reporter. May 3, 2019. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  3. ^ Green, Rachel E. (March 16, 2023). "Statute of Limitations for Sexual Assault Expanded in California". National Law Review. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  4. ^ Morris, Emily (2018-11-28). "San Francisco archdiocese spent $87.2 million on sex-abuse settlements". California Catholic Daily. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  5. ^ Knauth, Dietrich (August 21, 2023). "San Francisco Archdiocese files for bankruptcy to pursue sex abuse settlement". Reuters. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  6. ^ "Documents reveal San Francisco Archdiocese kept list of accused priests since 2003". www.dailyjournal.com. April 17, 2025. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  7. ^ a b Herb, Jeremy; Dennis, Rob (April 1, 2008). "Abuse Was Common in Religious Orders, by Jeremy Herb and Rob Dennis, San Jose Mercury News". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  8. ^ a b "Catholic Brothers Sex Crime". San Francisco Chronicle. November 9, 1989. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  9. ^ "Police Reports Show Cleric Molested 24 Kids". San Jose Mercury News. April 25, 1994. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  10. ^ a b Webby, Sean; Seyfer, Jessie (September 20, 2002). "Catholic Brother Accused of Molesting S.F. Indictment Alleges 181 Counts from '70s". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  11. ^ "Stories from the Archives of the Novato Advance, The Past, April 13, 2011". Novato Advance. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  12. ^ "Law May Permit Trial of Priest in Sex Abuse Case SF Asks States Advice on Exemption to Statut, by Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 1994". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
  13. ^ "Priest Arrested on Suspicion of Molestation". Contra Costa Times. November 15, 2000. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  14. ^ Enge, Marilee (March 1, 2001). "Priest Guilty of Molesting Boy, 17 a Longtime Catholic Educator Was Sentenced to Three Years of Probation. the Priest's Case". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  15. ^ Rafferty, Carole (March 4, 2000). "Priest Charged in Sex Case Menlo Park: He Had Explicit Chats on Internet with Undercover Cops Posing As Teen Boy, Police Say". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  16. ^ "Menlo Park Priest Pleads Guilty to Sex Offense". San Francisco Chronicle. August 23, 2000. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  17. ^ Romano, Bill (November 22, 2000). "Priest Gets 6 Months in Jail Educator Sentenced in Online Sex-Chat Case, by Bill Romano". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-05 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  18. ^ "Priest Faces 25 Counts of Child Molestation". The Mercury News. June 11, 2003. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  19. ^ Yarbrough, Amy (August 24, 2004). "Priest's Molest Case Waits for a Trial Date Judge Decides Jose Superiaso Can Be Prosecuted". San Mateo County Times. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  20. ^ "Priest Convicted of Child Molestation May Be Deported, by Henni Espinosa". ABS-CBN. February 14, 2012. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  21. ^ Hay, Tim (September 18, 2004). "Jury Hung in Daly City Priest's Molestation Trial Priest Found Not Guilty of Three Counts, No Verdict on 18 Other Charges". San Mateo County Times. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  22. ^ a b Davila, Erika (March 12, 2006). "Priest Convicted of Sex Abuse Won't Return to Santa Fe". New Mexican. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  23. ^ Lattin, Don (May 25, 1994). "New Allegation in Priest Pedophilia Case SF Man Says He Told Church of Being Molested". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  24. ^ a b Lattin, Don (May 24, 1994). "3 Priests Sued -- Molestation of Boys Alleged 9 Men Say They Were Abused and That Church Covered". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  25. ^ a b Williams, Isabel (November 9, 1994). "Greed Led to Molest Suit Priest Says". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  26. ^ Kim, Ryan (March 2, 2003). "SF Ex-Priest Indicted in Abuse Case Caught in Mexico He Faces 25 Counts of Molestation, Sodomy Involving 2 Children in the Late 1960s". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  27. ^ a b Lattin, Don (May 23, 2003). "Expert on Dealing with Abuse Accused Bay Area Priest Faces Molestation Charge". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  28. ^ Russell, Ron (January 19, 2005). "Fast Times at Marin Catholic High A Case That the Archdiocese of San Francisco Apparently Doesn't Want You to Know about". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  29. ^ Opatrny, Dennis J.; Fernandez, Elizabeth; Salter, Stephanie (January 24, 1995). "Monsignor Charged with Molesting Altar Boys". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  30. ^ a b Derbeken, Jaxon Van (2004-01-07). "Former S.F. priest pleads guilty to embezzlement / Molest case against him tossed in 2002". SFGATE. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  31. ^ Lattin, Don (March 22, 1996). "15 Men Settle Molest Suit against 3 Bay Priests". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  32. ^ "Ex-S.F. Priest Hit with More Charges 2 Additional Counts of Child Molestation". San Francisco Chronicle. March 29, 2003. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  33. ^ Derbeken, Jaxon Van (2004-01-07). "Former S.F. priest pleads guilty to embezzlement / Molest case against him tossed in 2002". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2023-06-17. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
  34. ^ Bailey, Brandon (December 29, 2003). "Abuse Claims Blame Church Officials Response Ranges from Sympathy to Cynicism". Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  35. ^ Bailey, Brandon (April 25, 2002). "Ex-Students at S.j. Catholic School Say Priest Molested Them in '70s 10 Speak Out: Men Say Late St. Martin Pastor Fondled Them". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  36. ^ Suryaraman, Maya (August 7, 2002). "San Jose Diocese Sued over Alleged Molestation in '70s". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  37. ^ Bailey, Brandon (January 1, 2003). "Dioceses Targeted in Claims of Abuse S.J. Man Says Late Priest Molested Him in the '70s". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  38. ^ "5 Men, 1 Woman Sue, Allege Abuse by S.J. Priest Ex-Students Say Catholic Church Officials Could Have Prevented His Actions in 1970s". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  39. ^ Egelko, Bob (April 21, 2005). "San Francisco $6 Million Verdict for 4 Victims in Church Trial 3 Men, 1 Woman Get Roughly $1.5 Million Each for Years of Abuse by San Jose Priest". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  40. ^ "S.F. Diocese Settles Abuse Lawsuits for $16M". Associated Press. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  41. ^ Breault, Laura (2025-04-12). "Judge says sexual abuse cases against San Francisco Archdiocese can go to trial - BishopAccountability.org". Associated Press. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  42. ^ a b Folmar, Kate; Bailey, Brandon (April 24, 2003). "Ex-Jesuit Arrested on Sex Charges Coach Ran Boys Home in Los Gatos A San Jose Mans Letter to Police Last Year Prompted Investigation into Claims of Molestation in 1960s and 70s". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  43. ^ a b Bailey, Brandon; Folmar, Kate (April 25, 2003). "2 Say Lives Damaged by Alleged Abuse Ex-Jesuit Faces Charges Stemming from 1960s". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  44. ^ Bailey, Brandon; Banducci, Elise (June 27, 2003). "Some Molesters to Go Free Old Cases Abuse Law Struck down, by Brandon Bailey and Elise Banducci". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-05-07 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  45. ^ a b Fimrite, Peter (October 5, 2002). "Priest Charged with Abuse of Boy 13 Ex-Sf Pastor Accused of Molestation in 84". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-05-06 – via Bishop Accountability.com.
  46. ^ Garretson, Con (July 2, 2003). "Charges Dropped in Novato Molest Case". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
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