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	Activist Group Leaflets around Salesian High By Karl Fischer San Jose Mercury News April 11, 2008 http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_8894325?nclick_check=1 Activists distributed leaflets at the gate of a Catholic high school Friday, urging students to call Richmond police if they were sexually abused at the campus. Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests hoped to draw attention to an allegation of abuse that surfaced this week at Salesian High. Administrators placed a teacher on administrative leave while investigating "allegations of misconduct," according to a statement from the school. "Why haven't the parents been told? Why hasn't the community been told?" said Joey Piscitelli, Northern California director of SNAP and a Salesian grad. "In this case, we have an accused serial molester. We want any others who have been abused to come forward." Richmond police took a report Tuesday of an abuse allegation involving the teacher, Detective Sgt. Brian Dickerson said. But so far, detectives have no evidence to substantiate the report. "We are way at the beginning of the investigation," said Dickerson, who supervises the department's Family Services detective unit. "In fact, the potential victim has not yet been interviewed." The complaint came to investigators through second- or third-hand accounts, police said. The student reputed to be a victim no longer attends Salesian. The Times is not naming the teacher because authorities have not implicated him in any crime. Piscitelli, who sued the school in 2003 and said faculty molested him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, said current students called SNAP this week about the allegations. They reported that at least one and possibly two 15-year-old girls had sex with the teacher on campus last year. SNAP activists similarly demonstrated in front of Salesian in February, when a 54-year-old woman came forward at a news conference and said a Catholic clergyman there abused her during the 1960s. She filed a report with Richmond police this year. "The kids who called me were very concerned about the girls," Piscitelli said. "And they said everyone was hushing it up. They were told by faculty not to talk about it because it would be bad publicity for the school." Salesian officials are "deeply saddened" by the allegations, according to the statement from development director Janet Wilks. "Salesian High School wishes to reaffirm its mission and assure all in the community that the safety and protection of the students is of paramount importance," the statement said. Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com
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