CALIFORNIA
The Salinas Californian
Allison Gatlin, The Salinas Californian November 21, 2014
Palma High School officials shot back Thursday against accusations that the Roman Catholic institution had been named in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by one of its former teachers.
In a letter to parents, President Patrick Dunne expressed sadness and anger over reports of sexual abuse of children by any adult, “particularly by religious men whom they trusted and revered.”
“There has never been an incident of abuse during my tenure of 28 years at Palma,” Dunne wrote.
Although Palma High School wasn’t named a defendant in the 23-page lawsuit, plaintiff Steven Cantrell asserts that’s where he attended school when a priest sexually abused him.
In 1984, Cantrell was a 14-year-old student at Palma High School when Father Gerald “Jerry” Funcheon, a teacher, sexually abused him during a camping trip, according to the complaint.
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