OAKLAND (CA)
Bay Area News Group
February 4, 2019
By Matthias Gafni
When Oakland diocese officials issued a news release before dawn Thursday announcing that Rev. Alex Castillo, who headed the faith formation and other programs, had been placed on administrative leave for inappropriate contact with a minor, they had not yet alerted police.
It would take another five hours after the 5:14 a.m. press statement for an official from the Oakland diocese to call Oakland police to investigate one of its high-ranking priests, according to a police spokeswoman. Sources say the allegations involve a victim who was a minor in 2016 when the alleged crime occurred.
The diocese has not said when it first learned of the allegations against Castillo, but spokeswoman Helen Osman said Monday that Castillo was told at the end of the day Wednesday that he had been placed on leave, at which point Chancery staff and priests were also informed. She did not immediately answer questions as to why police were not notified until Thursday morning, but survivor advocates Monday criticized the diocese over the delay.
“A police report is the very first thing that should be done when the Church receives an allegation of child sexual abuse,” said Melanie Sakoda, a Bay Area leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “This should have happened as soon as the report was received, not after notifying diocesan clergy of the charges, or putting out a press release about them. This delay could give a cleric, particularly one from another country, the opportunity to flee.”
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