Sacramento diocese updates list of priests accused of sex abuse with new allegations
The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento has released an updated list of more than 40 clergy members accused of sexual abuse that includes six new allegations against five priests who were already on the list for other alleged abuse.
The five former priests of the diocese with new allegations are Gerardo Beltran Rico, William Feeser, Francisco Javier Garcia, William Hold and Uriel Ojeda, according to a news release from the diocese. The news release also is available online in Spanish.
The diocese initially released the list of accused clergy members in April 2019. Sex abuse victims and advocates at the time argued that releasing the list after a long delay put other potential victims at risk, ignored the current danger and fixated on past cases in which the statute of limitations had run out.
The new allegations listed came after the completion of the diocese’s Independent Compensation Program, which ran from September 2019 through this summer. The program allowed victims to “seek compensation in a confidential process” for claims of abuse by priests at any time in the past without going to court, according to the diocese.
“This independent program did what we prayed it would do,” Bishop Jaime Soto said in the news release. “First and foremost, it created a venue where victims of clergy abuse could come forward and seek justice and healing for the pain that was inflicted on them by men who betrayed their trust. Second, it provided information that we are using to ensure that our reckoning of the past is as thorough and transparent as it needs to be if we are to seek God’s mercy.”
The clergy members on the list have been credibly accused of sexually abusing about 130 children and adults over the last seven decades. The list includes the dates and locations of their assignments in the diocese of Sacramento, which covers Catholic churches and outreach from Sacramento to the Oregon border, as well as the Lake Tahoe area.
Clergy member added to the list
Initially, the list included 44 priests and two deacons from the diocese. In December 2019, the list was updated with an additional clergy member, Cornelius F. O’Connor. He was assigned to Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Carmichael from 1972 until his death in 1989. He is accused of abusing a boy in 1987 or 1988.
The December 2019 update to the list, which came from new information available to the diocese, included additional allegations against eight priests already on the list.
Among the new allegations, Rico is accused of abusing 17 victims from 1982 through 1991. The diocese said Rico fled to Mexico in December 1991 after police obtained a warrant for his arrest. He was involuntarily dismissed from the priesthood by Pope Benedict XVI in April 2008.
Feeser retired in July 2010 and died in 2012. He is accused of abusing five victims from 1977 through 1987.
The diocese said Garcia fled to Mexico after a warrant was obtained for his arrest in 1995. That same year, he was removed from the ministry, and he was involuntarily dismissed from the priesthood by Benedict in October 2007. Garcia is accused of abusing 25 victims from 1973 through 1995.
Hold was removed from his position in the church and retired in 1998, according to the diocese. He died in 2012. Hold is accused of abusing three victims from 1976 through 1979.
Priest convicted of sexual molestation
The diocese said Ojeda pleaded no contest to sexual molestation of a minor in 2013, sentenced to eight years in prison and released from prison in 2019. He was dismissed from the clerical state in March 2016. Ojeda is accused of abusing two girls from 2007 through 2009 while assigned to Holy Rosary Church in Woodland; one of them reported the alleged abuse to the diocese last year.
In each claim of abuse that contained even partial information, the diocese said it tried to reach the victim or is still in the process of doing so to offer help and “to ensure that our parishes and communities know all that we do about the sins of the past.” The diocese expects there will be more additions to the list as the review program continues to investigate reported abuse.
“I continue to pray and seek atonement for the horrible sins of clergy sexual abuse,” Soto said in the news release. “Because the pain suffered by victims is ongoing, my efforts to safeguard the young and vulnerable – and to hold accountable those who would betray the trust placed in them – must be ongoing as well.”
The diocese of Sacramento encouraged anyone who may be a victim of clergy sexual abuse or knows someone who may be a victim to report it to law enforcement. The Diocese’s Pastoral Care Coordinator can also be reached at 866-777-9133.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 12:36 PM.
