Sacramento, California -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento released the names of 46 priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse over the past seven decades.
The clergy named in the list have been credibly accused of sexually abusing 130 minors or young adults, aged 25 and under, the diocese said in a news release. The list is based on the personnel records of nearly 1,500 bishops, priests and deacons from 1950 to the present.
“This list is heartbreaking. It is a sickening and sobering account of the history of sex abuse by clergy in our diocese,” Bishop Jaime Soto said in a news release. “It is repulsive to see the evil acts that were perpetrated upon innocent children and young people entrusted to our care."
The list was posted at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday on the diocese’s website.
"We believe really strongly, and the bishop here believes really strongly, that if we’re going to recover the trust of the people, the trust of Catholics and the public, that begins with the accounting of what happened in the past," diocese spokesperson Kevin Eckery said. "By having this accounting, by seeing, frankly, what was a catalogue of evil and failure and pain, that it’s always going to stay with us and we’re always going to be, you know, on target watching for this, to make sure it never happens again.”
The list was originally supposed to be released last fall, but it was pushed back to March after the diocese hired an outside consultant to go through the personnel files. The diocese then announced on Sunday that the list would be released this week.
The Diocese of Sacramento serves 1.3 million Catholics across 20 counties and is one of 12 dioceses in California.
Other dioceses in the state have also said they would release the names of priests facing abuse claims in the wake of revelations about priest sex abuse in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
“I apologize for the sins and failures of the past and I am resolutely determined that such acts of abuse should never again occur in our diocese,” Soto said. “I pledge to you that I and my brother priests are zealous in our efforts to ensure that our parishes and other Church ministries are safe environments for our children and young people.”
The list was reviewed by diocese staff and independent consulting firm Kinsale Management. The consulting firm is headed by Dr. Kathleen McChesney, a former executive assistant director of the FBI as well as a founding member of the Office of Child Protection at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The diocese explained that for an accusation to be deemed credible there needs to be "strong suspicion, or what canon law calls a 'semblance of truth,' that a crime or misconduct has occurred and that the accused cleric is the one who did it."
The review found the earliest reported incident took place in 1955 and the latest incident happened in 2014.
Three clergy members are collectively accused of 60 reported sexual abuse incidents, the review found.
“The list, since it covers 70 years, most of the men on it are dead," Eckery said. "But, for the ones who aren’t, they have to live with the implications and that’s something that we all have to live with because they violated trust. We are not going to get trust back unless we document it and unless we show it and unless we make people accountable."
See the list of the 44 priests and two permanent deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse here:
Gerardo Beltran Rico 1982-1991 Fugitive from justice
Vincent Brady 1967-2002 Retired without faculties
James Casey 1933-1992 Deceased
Andrew Coffey 1948-2006 Deceased
Malachy Conway 1995-1997 Removed from ministry
Hector Coria 2011-2014 Voluntarily dismissed from priesthood
John Crowley 1971-1988 Removed from ministry
Rodolfo Delgado 1982-2006 Life of prayer and penance
Michael Dermody 1958-1962 Deceased
Thomas Dermody 1962-1990 Deceased
William Feeser 1977-1995 Deceased
Oscar Figueroa 2000-2009 Removed from ministry
Francisco Javier Garcia 1978-1995 Fugitive from justice
John Hannan 1955-2004 Deceased
David Hernandez Cota 1979-1984 Left Diocese
Francisco Hernandez-Tovar 1986-2008 Removed from ministry
William Hold 1976-1998 Deceased
Michael Lynch 1952-1993 Deceased
James Mennis 1962-1970 Deceased
Vito Mistretta 1942-1990 Deceased
Jorge Moreno 1970-1995 Deceased
Uriel Ojeda 2007-2011 Prison
Jose Antonio Pinal 1980-1989 Fugitive from justice
William Storan 1961-2001 Retired without faculties
Simon Twomey 1970-2009 Retired without faculties
Jose Urbina 1980-1987 Fugitive from justice
Murrough Wallace 1960-2018 Retired without faculties
Michael Walsh 1971-2006 Retired without faculties
John Dowling Savannah-Atlanta, Georgia 1947-1981 Deceased
J. Patrick Foley San Diego, California 1991-1995 Faculties denied
Priests from Religious Orders
Order Years Active in Diocese Current Status
Thomas Allender, SJ Society of Jesus (Jesuit) 1970-1975 Removed from ministry
Mario Blanco Porras, SDB Society of St Francis de Sales (Salesians of Don Bosco) 1969-1973 Deceased
Edward Boyle, CSsR Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorist) 1963-1977 Deceased
David Brusky, SDS Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorian) 1985-1987 Deceased
Robert Casper, SDS Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorian) 1959-1986 Deceased
Pablo Cortes, SDB Society of St Francis de Sales (Salesians of Don Bosco) 1970-1973 Left diocese
Arthur Falvey, SJ Society of Jesus (Jesuit) 1955-1965 Deceased
Jerome Henson, OP Order of Friars Preachers (Dominican) 1977-1981 Life of prayer and penance
Robert Marsicek, SDS Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorian) 1987-2000 Removed from ministry
James Thomas Monaghan, SJ Society of Jesus (Jesuit) 1962-1963, 1975-1991 Deceased
Z. Enrique Perez, CO Congregation of the Oratory in Bogota, Colombia (Oratorian) 1999-2003 Faculties withdrawn
Vernon Petrich, SDS Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorian) 1980-1983 Removed from ministry
Michael Proulx, OSsT Order of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinitarian) 1945-1959 Left Diocese
John “Casper” Watts, CP Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (Passionist) Unknown Left Diocese
Permanent Deacons of the Diocese of Sacramento
Years Active in Diocese Current Status
Alejandro Arroyo 1991-2012 Deceased
Jesus Magallanes 1995-1996 Removed from ministry
The following priests from other dioceses or religious orders lived or served in the Diocese of Sacramento. We have not received any allegations of abuse that occurred within the diocese that would be reviewed by the Independent Review Board. However, these names have appeared in other sources indicating abuse outside the diocese.
Laurence Brett Bridgeport, Connecticut N/A
Melvin Bucher, OFM Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan) 1982-1988
Charles Gormley Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming 1946-1947
Joseph Hoan Diocese of Long Xuyen, South Vietnam 1986-1994
Gus Krumm, OFM Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan) 2002
Louis Ladenburger, OFM Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan) 1986-1987
Victor Marron Diocese of Clogher, Ireland 1964-1966
Luis Martinez, SF Sons of the Holy Family 2003
Kevin McBrien, OCarm Order of Carmelites Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary (Carmelite) 1991-1997
Patrick McCabe Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland 1986-1987
James McSorley, OMI Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate 1986-1987
Oliver O'Grady Stockton, California N/A
Luis Michael O'Halloran, OP Order of Friars Preachers (Dominican) 1978-1996
Carlton Whitten, SJ Society of Jesus (Jesuit) 1963-1965, 1980-1987, 1990-1999
William Wood, SJ Society of Jesus (Jesuit) 1984-1991
Luke Zimmer, SSCC Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary 1995-1996
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