BAKERSFIELD (CA)
The Californian
June 17, 2019
By John Cox
A woman spoke out publicly Monday accusing the Rev. John Esquivel, a former priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church, of sexually abusing her when she worked at the church as a secretary during the mid-1980s.
Silvia Gomez Ray, now 52, said at a news conference in front of the church that she was 17 or 18 years old when she was groped and verbally abused by Monsignor Esquivel, who now works as a priest at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Reedley.
A representative of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which advocates for victims of abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, said he has been contacted by three others who allege they were sexually abused by Esquivel, and that two of the accusers were 16 at the time. The representative, Joey Piscitelli, said he has filed allegations on their behalf with the state Attorney General, as well as with police in Bakersfield and Reedley.
Esquivel and a representative of the the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, which oversees St. Joseph and St. Anthony of Padua, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.
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