Rev. Robert E. Freitas-Assignment

Rev. Robert E. Freitas

Summary of Case: Freitas was placed on a "restricted ministry" and sent to treatment in 1985 after two boys complained of sexual abuse. He was returned to active ministry. In 2002 a man told Church officials that Freitas molested him at age 15 in 1979. Freitas was arrested in April 2002 and charged with molesting the boy. The plaintiff wore a wire and Freitas admitted abuse. This man also filed suit. There were at least four more victims from about the same time frame, and multiple lawsuits. Freitas pleaded guilty in December 2002 and was sentenced to six months in jail and five months' probation. He was released in June 2003 after the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that had lifted the statute of limitations for sexual abuse of children.

Ordained: 1972

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1972 Oakland bishop was Floyd Lawrence Begin (1962-1977)	1976	All Saints	Hayward • Accused in 2003 of having sexually abused an 11-year-old boy in 1977 at All Saints. (San Jose Mercury News January 23, 2003)	CA	3/3 ,3/4, 2/3 Pastor was Msgr. James J. Forristal 1972-1975, replaced 1975-1976 by Rev. Richard E. Hecht. Hecht had previously been second, and Administrator, under Forristal. In residence 1973-1974 was Rev. Martin C. Waldron, C.S.Sp. Third priest 1975-1976 was Rev. John Martin, M.M., with Freitas listed in the second spot.	All Saints had a school with 317-271 students.
1976 Begin was replaced as bishop by John Stephen Cummins (1977-2003)	1978	St. Felicitas	San Leandro	CA	3/4, 2/3 Pastor was Msgr. Michael J. McGinty. Second priest 1976-1977 was Wincenty Kruk. Last priest 1976-1978 was Trans Thuc Dinh (Viet Nam), who is listed just after Freitas.	St. Felicitas had a school with 270-262 students.
1978	1979	St. Edward's	Newark	CA	2/3 Freitas worked under Rev. Ricardo A. Chavez. Third priest was Bernardinao de Andrade.	St. Edward's had a school with 316 students.
1979	1982	Santa Paula	Fremont • Arrested and charged in 2002 with having molested a 15-year-old boy in 1979 at St. Paula's. (San Jose Mercury News April 10, 2002). Freitas admitted to "other crimes" in 2002, which include victimizing another St. Paula parishioner. (Oakland Tribune April 10, 2002)	CA	2/2 During 1979-1981 Freitas worked under Rev. Joseph B. Schwab, who was replaced by Rev. James Cummings 1981-1982.
1982	1985	Our Lady of the Rosary	Union City • Accused in 1985 of molesting two male teen parishioners of Our Lady of the Rosary. Freitas was removed from the parish, and spent six months at a treatment center for clergy in Massachusetts. (San Francisco Chronicle April 12, 2002)	CA	1/2 Working under Freitas were Rev. Jose M. Leon 1982-1984, and Rev. Javier F. Kutsche 1984-1985.	Parish had a school with 270-243 students.
1985	1987	St. Catherine of Seina	Martinez	CA	3/3 Freitas is listed last after Revs. William J. Marshall and Carmelo Mifsud.	Parish had a school with 218-212 students.
1987	1990	Good Shepherd	Pittsburg	CA	2/2 Freitas worked under Rev. Louis Dabovich.
1990	1991	?	?	?		Freitas is not indexed or listed in the 1991 Directory.
1991	1992	St. Anthony	Oakley	CA	2/2 Freitas worked under Rev. Fernando Cortez.
1992	1993	?	?	?		Freitas is not indexed or listed in the 1993 Directory.
1993	1997	St. Lawrence O'Toole	Oakland	CA	2/3, 2/2 In residence. Pastor was Rev. Robert W. Charm. Also in residence 1994-1995 was Rev. Mark R. Schumacher.	Parish had a school with 289-279 students. Freitas no longer appears in the Directories after 1997.
1997?	2002	St. Alphonsus Liguori	San Leandro	CA		St. Alphonsus had an elementary school. This assignment is per news reports. (San Francisco Chronicle April 12, 2002)
1995	2002	The AIDS Project	Oakland	CA		This assignment is per news reports. (Oakland Tribune April 10, 2002)
1995	2002	Sisters of the Holy Family Motherhouse	Fremont • Freitas pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexual abuse of a minor. (San Jose Mercury News December 7, 2002). He was sentenced to six months in jail and five months probation (Tri-Valley Herald February 2, 2003). He was released from jail when the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that had lifted the statute of limitations for sexual abuse of children in June 2003. (Oakland Tribune November 25, 2003)	CA	Chaplain	The motherhouse was a retirement home for nuns. This assignment is per news reports (San Jose Mercury News April 10, 2002).

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1973-1997).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy & Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record last updated February 25, 2021.