SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Examiner
Dec. 5, 2019
By Laura Waxmann
A survivor of child sexual abuse by a former priest at St. Finn Barr School is suing the Archdiocese of San Francisco in an effort to force the release of a long-promised list of names of clergy accused of sexual misconduct.
The lawsuit, filed by now 53-year-old Genaro Licea in San Francisco Superior Court on November 27, is also seeking damages for negligent supervision of a minor, among other things.
Standing on a sidewalk outside of The City’s archdiocese headquarters on Thursday, Licea said he was molested for a three-year period starting at age 7 by a now-deceased former priest at St. Finn Barr, Father John Kavanaugh. He decided to come forward to “speak out for those who cannot speak out for themselves right now.”
“I have been struggling with this for a long time. And I don’t want to be hidden anymore,” said Licea. “I want to make sure that my molester is on that list. They should release the list. They should not be hiding it.”
Licea alleges that two nuns and his teacher, to whom he reported Kavanaugh’s misconduct while he was still a student at the school, failed to intervene.
“That church protected him and left me out,” said Licea, adding that there are likely many others who have survived Kavanaugh’s abuse but have yet to step forward.
Licea’s attorney, Joseph George of the Law Offices of Joseph C. George, PH.D., said that apart from monetary compensation for Licea, the lawsuit is seeking to uncover evidence of additional misconduct and subsequent cover up by church officials, as well as a list of names of “credibly accused perpetrators” within the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
The San Francisco Examiner reported previously that the Archdiocese of San Francisco is named in a separate lawsuit that could force church officials to release the names of alleged abusers and provide documents on clerical offenders.
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