Diocese of Stockton Accused Priests

Child sexual abuse in Roman Catholic Churches has been happening throughout the world for decades. California legislators recently changed the law to reflect this knowledge and allow survivors to initiate civil claims against their abusers, no matter the victim’s current age or how long ago the abuse happened. Additionally, outside this three-year look-back window that helps revive previously time-barred cases, the state extended its statute of limitations to enable victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims until their 40th birthday (the prior law set the cut off at 26).

The Diocese of Stockton is no exception to the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church that necessitated new legislative insights. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Alpine, and Mono counties. Like other dioceses in California, the Diocese of Stockton has seen many accusations of sexual abuse by clergy and engaged in widespread cover-ups of the abuse.

The Diocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization proceedings in 2014 after facing mounting legal expenses following sexual abuse allegations against numerous clergy members. In 2017, as part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the Diocese released a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse. The list names the following clergy members: Raul Alberto Bosco, Sylvester Brown, James Cairns, David Carrier, Mario Cimmarrusti, Edmond G. Cloutier, Raymond Devlin, Joseph Dondero, Dennis Duffy, Theodore Feely, J. Patrick Foley, Martin Gates, Harold J. Goschke, Gavin Griffith, Edward Henriques, Timothy Keppel, Joseph Lopez, Donald McGuire, Neil McMenamin, Joaquin Moreno, Thomas P. O’Neill, Patrick J. O’Shea, Joseph Prochnow, Thomas Patrick Purcell, Charles Ruetten, Anthony Smith, Louis Telegdy, and Ramon Varela.

In 2020, the Diocese updated the list of credibly accused clergy to add priests and two religious order brothers. The updated list includes the following clergy accused of abuse in other dioceses but ordained in the Diocese of Stockton: Michael Kelly, Titian Miani, Edward Noonan, Oliver O’Grady, Oskar Pelaez, and Luo Suarez.

The updated list also adds the following clergy accused of abuse while serving in the Diocese: Antonio Camacho, Didachus Clavell, Murty Fahy, Louie Ladenberger, Antonio Munoz Rodriguez, Eduardo De Jesus Perez Torrez, and Fernando Villalobos.

In a widely publicized civil lawsuit brought against the Diocese of Stockton, former Priest Michael Kelly faced accusations of sexually abusing a former altar boy in the 1980s while assigned to the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton. The lawsuit also accuses the Diocese of employing sexual predators and intentionally covering up the abuse for years.

Kelly was also charged criminally with four counts of child sexual abuse. However, he fled to Ireland before confronting the charges. Prosecutors attempted to extradite him back to the US but ultimately had to drop the criminal charges when his 26-year-old accuser suddenly died.

The civil lawsuit involving Kelly noted abuse allegations against another priest, Oliver O’Grady, convicted of sexual abuse of minors in 1994. O’Grady held assignments with different ministries in Northern California from 1971 to 1993 when he faced accusations of sexually abusing two brothers.

The Church defrocked O’Grady, and he moved to Ireland, where a court later convicted him on child pornography charges. An award-winning documentary titled Deliver us From Evil subsequently chronicled the Diocese of Stockton’s cover-up of the abuse by O’Grady. The Diocese ultimately paid almost $21 million to compensate victims of O’Grady’s abuse.

In another well-publicized lawsuit filed in 2016, a former pool boy for the Church of the Presentation in Stockton sued the Church, claiming that Monsignor Larry McGovern sent the boy explicit text messages, including photos of his penis. After he complained about the text messages, the Church terminated the pool worker rather than punish the clergy member.

Victims of childhood sexual abuse don’t have to suffer in silence. You have legal rights and can pursue civil action against both the perpetrator and the Diocese of Stockton that allowed the abuse to happen. You deserve closure and justice for the pain and suffering you endured.

If a clergy member at the Diocese of Stockton sexually abused you or someone you love, contact our team of sexual abuse lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation. We have years of experience helping victims of child sexual abuse find their voices to fight for the compensation and justice they deserve to aid in their continued healing.