Fr. Cornelius P. Leehan

Order: CSsR
Ordained: 1948
Status: Sued

Died: 12/29/1996
Diocese: Diocese of Oakland CA

Full name Cornelius Patrick or Pedraig Leehan. Accused in a 12/03 lawsuit of raping a 5-year-old boy at St. Alphonsus Liguori in San Leandro in the late 1950s-early 1960s. Also allegedly fondled the boy 7 years later, after he was reassigned to the parish. Leehan’s accuser said he told his father and that his father, a friend of Leehan, told him to tell no one and to never speak about a priest that way. Leehan died in 1996. On the Oakland diocese’s list in 2019. Included in 8/21 on the Diocese of Fresno’s list of credibly accused, where he was assigned 1951-54.


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