CALIFORNIA
The Union Democrat
By Giuseppe Ricapito, The Union Democrat
Published Dec 1, 2016
A priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton has been reinstated to active ministry from administrative leave following an in-house investigation of alleged inappropriate conduct with a minor.
Father Editho Mascardo, who served as a parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Church in Sonora, where he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination in 2013, was placed on administrative leave in July 2015.
The Stockton Diocesan Review Board reviewed the allegations from July 2015 until May 23, 2016, and did not conclude that sexual abuse had occurred.
The Review Board “recommended that a path toward healing be considered to resolve the situation,” a Diocese of Stockton press release said.
No further information about the accusation, the age and gender of the minor, or when and where the alleged sexual conduct took place has been released.
Northwest Director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) Joey Piscatelli said “the Diocese and the Review Board is a total sham.”
“My personal experience is that they don’t handle it well,” he said. “How would the review board know if it occurred? How they do the investigation is they ask the priest. They always, as a rule, as a habit, say that it hasn’t occurred. They say that to the press and its ludicrous.”
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