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  2 More Victims Sue Santa Rosa Catholic Dicoese

By David Clohessy
SNAP
September 9, 2010

http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2010_press_releases/090910_2_more_victims_sue_santa_rosa_catholic_dicoese.htm

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Joey Piscitelli 925 262 3699

2 more victims sue Santa Rosa Catholic dicoese

Third and fourth child sex & cover up suits filed re Irish priest

Northern California cleric faces extradition & criminal charges

His attorney is seeking now-secret records from Irish government

SNAP urges Catholic bishop to reach out to other victims, witnesses

Two more child sex abuse and cover up lawsuits are being filed today against an Irish Catholic priest who faces extradition to his homeland.

One of the new civil cases says that Fr. Patrick Joseph McCabe molested a then 9 year old boy. The other suit says that McCabe molested a then 17 year old boy. Both allege the crimes happened in the rectory or the church at St. Bernard’s parish in Eureka around 1983.

The attorney who represents the men has also written to Irish law enforcement authorities, seeking records they have about McCabe’s crimes in that country. He is trying to get access to exhibits from the Irish government’s Murphy Report that contain letters between Santa Rosa and Irish church officials about McCabe.

“We hope McCabe’s US victims will get some help from Irish secular authorities,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis. He heads a Chicago-based support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). “Since Catholic officials cooperate to transfer predator priests, we hope legal officials will cooperate in catching those predator priests.”

Two weeks ago, a different California man filed a similar suit charging that McCabe repeatedly molested him as a then 11 year old boy at St. Bernard’s parish in Eureka around 1983.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100831/ARTICLES/100839878/1350?Title=Former-altar-boy-describes-aftermath-of-alleged-abuse-by-Eureka-priest

SNAP is also blasting Santa Rosa Catholic officials for urging McCabe victims to call the diocese instead of the police. It’s urging diocesan staff to reach out more aggressively to anyone who may have witnessed or experienced sexual abuse by McCabe, who now lives in the Oakland area.

For at least three years, McCabe worked at churches in Eureka and Guerneville. He is now in jail in Alameda County, facing extradition to Ireland to face charges of sexually assaulting six boys in Dublin between 1973 and 1981.

According to the Times Standard, “McCabe was reportedly a known pedophile before arriving in Eureka” and “even attended a ‘renewal program’ in New Mexico for priests and having been placed on the drug Depo-Provera, which was believed to help control the urges of sexual deviants, after allegations arose in Dublin.”

http://www.times-standard.com/ci_15802856?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com

In 2006, Walsh came under fire from SNAP and some local Catholics for letting a serial predator priest named Fr. Xavier Ochoa to flee to Mexico, by keeping quiet for days after Ochoa admitted his crimes. At least five other church officials knew of allegations against Ochoa but likewise stayed silent, which gave the priest the chance to flee to his native Mexico where he remains today.

Walsh also came under fire for keeping Msgr. Joseph Alzugaray in a Santa Rosa area parish, despite a secret recommendation by his own hand-picked abuse panel to suspend Alzugaray. At least one victim who sued Alzugaray and his supervisors has been paid a settlement of more than $1 million.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2010/03_04/2010_04_24_Espinoza_BishopWalsh.htm

McCabe’s extradition hearing was recently delayed and now tentatively set for Nov. 2.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/02/BA4D1F7OHA.DTL

The new lawsuits, like the previous lawsuits, are being filed in Sonoma County Court. In both cases, the victim is represented by Sacramento attorney and psychologist Joseph C. George (916 442 7100), who has handled hundreds of child sex abuse lawsuits.

 
 

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