PALM SPRINGS (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
11:58 PM PDT on Monday, September 19, 2005
By MICHAEL FISHER / The Press-Enterprise
A national self-help group for victims of clergy sexual abuse urged Bishop Gerald R. Barnes on Monday to alert Catholic parishioners in Palm Springs about a retired priest, who was accused in a lawsuit of sexual misconduct in Orange County.
The Rev. James M. Ford recently relocated to Palm Springs from San Roque Catholic Church in Santa Barbara, said Mary Grant, Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. Ford is accused of sexually abusing an Orange County youth in the late 1960s.
Ford, who could not be located for comment, has previously denied the accusation, telling the Los Angeles Times in February 2004 that he was "deeply hurt by this allegation of 35 years ago. It's completely and absolutely false."
Ford retired from San Roque in June, a church receptionist said. Ford left his forwarding address as a post office box in Palm Springs, she said.