SAN JOSE (CA)
Mercury News
By Mark Gomez and Joe Rodriguez
mgomez@mercurynews.commercurynews.com
By Mark Gomez and Joe Rodriguez
A Roman Catholic religious order openly and very publicly apologized to a graduate of one of its elite schools for boys in San Jose who claims he was sexually molested on campus by a Jesuit brother four decades ago.
“We desire to further the healing of anyone harmed by a Jesuit of this Province,” the religious order wrote in a statement sent out to hundreds of graduates of the school, going back decades. The statement named both the alleged victim and molester.
The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, run Bellarmine College Preparatory, where the abuse allegedly happened during the late 1960s. The event apparently did not come to light until recently when the former student decided to come forward.
In two unusually frank letters to Bellarmine alumni, Jesuit officials named the victim and his alleged molester, Brother William Farrington, who supervised students living on campus during the mid-1960s to 1970s.
Farrington could not be reached for comment. He apparently lives at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. The Mercury News does not normally name victims of sexual abuse without their permission. The former student could not be reached in time for this report.
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