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Eight Priests with Kern County Ties Accused of Past Sexual Abuse, List Shows

Bakersfield Californian
May 7, 2019

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/eight-priests-with-kern-county-ties-accused-of-past-sexual/article_3f5edd96-710a-11e9-89a1-833552a05948.html

Eight priests with connections to Kern County have been accused of sexual abuse, according to a list released by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

The advocacy group released a list on Tuesday of 23 priests who have worked in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno who the group says has had accusations of sexual abuse lodged against them. One name was later removed from the list.

The names came from the website bishopaccountability.org, an online archive that tracks accusations of sexual misconduct by Catholic clergy.

Here’s a look at the priests listed with local ties:

Craig Harrison

In recent weeks, SNAP said they have been contacted by five people who claimed they were sexually abused by Harrison over the course of his career.

While he has served at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church since 1999, he was previously a pastor at St. Joseph in Firebaugh, St. Francis in Mojave and several churches in Merced. Most of these allegations relate to his time in Firebaugh and Merced.

After the first allegation was made to the Fresno Diocese on April 12, Harrison was placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

Miguel Flores

Flores, a reverend at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bakersfield, was placed on administrative leave in February after new information relating to sexual assault allegations involving a 16-year-old girl in 2002 came to light this year.

The alleged assault happened while Flores served at parishes in Hanford and Tranquility, where the girl served as his office assistant.

Flores was cleared by a jury in 2002 of three counts of forcible rape, three counts of sex with a minor and single charges of making threats and intimidating a witness.

Robert Gamel

Gamel was serving as a priest at St. Joseph Church in Los Banos in 2014 when allegations came forward about inappropriate contact between him and young boys at the church.

Child pornography was found by police after computers and hard drives were recovered from the church. Gamel pleaded no contest to charges of child porn possession in 2016 in Merced County Superior Court.

He was convicted and sentenced later that year to 11 months in jail and four years’ probation, as well as a requirement to register as a sex offender.

However, Gamel didn’t end up serving jail time, as he was eligible to apply for an alternative program that allowed him to just have electronic monitoring.

In 2017, Gamel was arrested again for allegedly possessing child porn. He was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.

During his career, Gamel worked at several Kern County churches, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bakersfield, St. Joseph’s Mission in Oildale and St. Ann Church in Ridgecrest.

Hermy Ceniza

A Bakersfield man alleged that when he was 17 years old in 1991, he was molested for two years by Ceniza, who was a priest at St. Francis Church at the time.

In 1993, the teen talked with Bishop John Steinbock, who allegedly promised that Ceniza would no longer be a priest. After that, the matter was dropped. However, in 2009, the accuser learned that Ceniza was still serving as a priest in the Philippines.

A lawsuit was filed against the Fresno Diocese in Fresno County Superior Court in 2010 alleging fraud on the part of the diocese. The case was dismissed in 2011.

Tod Brown

A man alleged that he was abused by Brown when he was 12 years old in 1965, when Brown was working as a pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Bakersfield.

Brown, who was the Orange County bishop at the time, denied the allegations, which the accuser first brought up privately with the Fresno Diocese in 1997. However, information about the allegations became public in 2007 in connection with a lawsuit Brown was involved in at the time.

In that lawsuit, a Santa Ana man was accused of allegedly abusing a 16-year-old girl in the 1990s. As part of the suit, prosecutors sought to get a deposition from Brown, who was serving as bishop, about sexual abuse allegations in the Roman Cathollic Diocese of Orange.

In a deposition, Brown acknowledged that accusations were made against him personally. The allegations were later dismissed as not credible by the Fresno Diocese. Brown retired in 2012.

Eric Swearingen

Swearingen was sued in 2002 by a man who said he was abused by him between 1989 and 1993 while he was an altar boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bakersfield.

The man said he told Bishop Steinbock about the alleged abuse. However, the Fresno Diocese found that the allegations were not credible. No charges were filed against Swearingen by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, as no evidence was found that the abuse took place.

The lawsuit ended in a mistrial in 2006 and went to arbitration a year later, at which point a settlement was reached.

Swearingen is currently the pastor at the Good Shepherd Catholic Parish in Visalia.

Anthony Herdegen

In 2003, Herdegen was accused by two brothers of sexually abusing them between 1959 and 1973, when he was working at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wasco.

While no criminal charges could be made due to the statute of limitations, a lawsuit was filed in the Fresno County Superior Court in 2003 against the Fresno Diocese. In 2009, the jury concluded that Herdegen molested the boys but that the diocese had no knowledge of the incidents and were subsequently not liable.

James Collins

In 2003, a woman filed a lawsuit alleging abuse by Collins for five years in the early 1960s at St. Mary’s Church in Buttonwillow. The suit was settled in 2006 for $875,000.

In a statement released on Tuesday by the Fresno Diocese on behalf of Bishop Joseph Brennan, the diocese reiterated the plan to review files relating to sexual abuse allegations.

The investigation will be a two-phase process led by former FBI Executive Assistant Director Kathleen McChesney that will include the participation of the Diocesan Review Board, College of Consultors and the Sensitive Issues Committee.

The state Attorney General's Office has directed the Fresno Diocese and five other dioceses in the state to produce documents regarding child abuse allegations to make sure they are following the law as mandatory reporters.

 

 

 

 

 




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