Rev. Costellano Jose Pinal (aka Antonio Pinal)

Summary of Case: Pinal was accused in the late 1980s of having sexually abused a 14-year-old boy in 1983-1984. He was placed on leave and fled to Mexico, where in 1991 he admitted the abuse in a letter to a bishop. He was charged in 2003 with two counts of sodomy under a new CA law that would have allowed prosecution of cases that were beyond the statute of limitations. The charges were dropped when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the new law.

Ordained: 1980

     

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1980

Sacramento bishop was Francis Anthony Quinn (1979-1993)

1986 Sacred Heart

Gridley

• Accused in the late 1980s of having twice sodomized a 14-year-old boy in 1983 in the Sacred Heart rectory, and as having fondled the boy in 1984 on a scuba diving trip to Mexico. (Chico Enterprise-Record
June 28, 2003)

CA 2/2  
1980 1984 St. Mary's Biggs CA   This was a mission of Sacred Heart in Gridley.
1980 1986 Our Lady of Guadalupe Live Oak CA   This was a mission of Sacred Heart in Gridley.
1986 1989 St. Anthony's Winters CA   2/2
1986 1989 St. Martin's Esparto CA   This was a mission of St. Anthony's in Winters.
1989 1991 Absent on Leave      

Pinal was placed on leave after the victim of abuse by Pinal in 1983-1984 disclosed the abuse to a priest at Sacred Heart in Gridley. He fled to Mexico. (SNAP [United States]
April 17, 2007)

Pinal admitted the abuse in a 1991 letter to a bishop, and asked the bishop if he would be prosecuted if he returned to the U.S. He wrote the letter from Mexico, where he was thought to still be living in 2003.

Pinal was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy in 2003, but the charges were dropped when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a new CA law that would have allowed prosecution of child sexual abuse cases beyond the prior statute of limitations. (Chico Enterprise-Record
June 28, 2003)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1981-1991)

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 and 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 collates Pinal's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on July 16, 2010.