Diocese of Fresno CA - BishopAccountability.org

37 Accused in This Diocese

Fr. Henry F. Angelino

Ordained: 1943
Status: Arrested

Died: 08/30/1986
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Named publicly as credibly accused on the Fresno diocese's list in 2021. Ordained for the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. Noted to have left the diocese in 1952. The 1954 Official Catholic Directory (which reflects 1953-1954) shows Angelino as a priest of the Monterey-Fresno diocese, retired. The following year he is indexed as a U.S. Army chaplain. Per news articles in April 1952, Angelino was arrested and charged on two counts of "immoral conduct" with a boy, and admitted to "improper conduct" with two boys for over more than a year. He was pastor of Sacred Heart in Merced at the time. In 1977 a news piece shows that Angelino was appointed by the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement to Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel in Walnut Creek CA. He died in 1986.

Assignments:

BishopAccountability.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. John P. Boyle

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1941
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. Died in 1987. Named as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2021.

Sources:

Fr. John A. Bradley

Order: SJ
Ordained: 1954
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

"Jack." Per 12/2003 news, a woman had filed suit alleging that when she was 17 and pregnant in the early 1960s, her family sent her to live with friends in Fresno. The suit says that Bradley, a priest at St. Agnes Mission, abused her for five months while she was pregnant. He is not indexed in Official Catholic Directory after 1970. Included in 2021 on the Diocese of Fresno's list of credibly accused.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Bishop Tod David Brown

Ordained: 1963
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Bishop of Boise City ID 1989-1998; Bishop of Orange CA 1998-2012. Retired. A man came forward in early 2007 to allege abuse by Baker in Bakersfield in 1965 when he was approximately 12 years old. The man produced copies of correspondence to and from the Fresno diocese in 7/1997 about the alleged abuse. He also wrote to Cardinal Mahony in 2002. Brown admitted in a deposition in 9/2007 that he had been accused and that the church had investigated. He denied the abuse. Retirement announced in 9/2012.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Hermy Dave O. Ceniza

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1977
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Archdiocese of Davao, Philippines. A civil lawsuit filed in 4/2010 alleged that Ceniza abused and stalked a youth while at St. Francis Church in Bakersfield around 1991. In 1993 his accuser called Bishop Steinbock, who met with him and promised Ceniza would no longer be a priest. The accuser later learned that Ceniza was living in the Philippines and still an active priest. The suit alleges fraud on the part of the Diocese. Ceniza's name was included in 2021 on the Diocese of Fresno's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. Gerald F. Chavez

Ordained: 1973
Status: Accused

Died: 02/29/2020
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2021. Per his obituary, Chavez was placed on permanent medical leave of absence in 2017. He died in 2020.

Sources:

Fr. James Collins

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1933
Status: Settled

Died: 10/13/1977
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained in 1933 for the Diocese of Derry, Ireland. Appears to have arrived in the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno in 1947, where he was incardinated in 1949. Retired to Donegal and died 10/13/1977. Accused in a 12/2003 lawsuit of sexually abusing a girl for five years in the early 1960s, while assigned to St. Mary's in Buttonwillow CA. It settled in 8/2006 for $875K. Accused in another lawsuit of sexually abusing girl multiple times 1958-1960 when she was about ages 8-10, also while assigned to St. Mary's. The suit settled in 2020 in the low six figures. Collins name is included on the Fresno Diocese's list released in 8/2021 of credibly accused.

Assignments:

Law Offices of Mitchel Garabedian 05.27.21

Sources:

Fr. Frederic P. Crowley

Ordained: 1934
Status: Accused

Died: 05/30/1972
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Monsignor. Died in 1972. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fresno on its list in 8/2021.

Sources:

Fr. Francis X. Darmady

Order: CSsR
Ordained: 1931
Status: Accused

Died: 03/27/1955
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 2021. Noted to have been assigned to St. Alphonsus in Fresno 1936-1938. He died 3/27/1955 in his native St. Louis. (His name on Fresno list misspelled "Darmaddy.")

Sources:

Fr. Robert Davis

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1997
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2021. It notes that Davis' faculties were suspended in 2004. Laicization in process.

Sources:

Diocese of Fresno List accessed 01.17.22

Deacon Jose Morelos

Donate Photo

Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fresno on its list in 2021. It notes that Morelos was a transitional deacon from Mexico and was visiting friends in Fresno at the time in question.

Sources:

Diocese of Fresno List accessed 01.17.22

Fr. Raul Diaz

Ordained: 1997
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Assigned to St. Catherine's in Dinuba when placed on leave in 5/2019 during an investigation of allegations of the sexual abuse of minors. The Diocese was informed by law enforcement.

Sources:

Fr. William C. Dodgson

Ordained: 1950
Status: Sued

Died: 01/5/1998
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Accused in a lawsuit[s] filed in CA sometime between 2020-2022 of the sexual abuse of a minor[s]. (Name misspelled Dodson). Dodgson was a Philadelphia priest until his transfer in 1958 to Fresno CA. News accounts show that he was arrested in 1955 for fraud, having taken money from two men with the false promise of buying them cars. He was a heavy race-track gambler. Dodgson resurfaced as an active priest in 1958 in the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. He transferred in 1965 to the Diocese of Boise, where he spent the remainder of his priesthood. Dodgson died in 1998.

Sources:

Fr. John Esquivel

Ordained: 1968
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Monsignor. Accused publicly in 6/2019 of sexually abusing a 17- or 18-year-old girl in the mid-1980s at St. Joseph's in Bakersfield. Suspended for a few months during investigation. Esquivel's accuser said that he groped, open-mouth kissed and verbally abused her. She was working at the time as his secretary. SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) stated that three other women told them in recent years that Esquivel sexually abused them, two at age 16. Two of the alleged victims reportedly told another priest in around 1992, but no action. Suit filed in 1/2020 by two of the women, each claiming abuse as teenagers by Esquivel. Remained in active ministry in 1/2020.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Thomas E. Farrell

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1935
Status: Accused

Died: 06/4/1962
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained in MA for the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fresno on its list in 2021. Noted to have left the diocese in 1945. The Official Catholic Directory shows Farrell as on leave of absence in 1945, then as an assistant at a Bakersfield parish the following year. He is then indexed with a chancery address for several years, and surfaces later as a priest of the Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, NM, which was a treatment center for troubled priests, including pedophiles. He died in 1962 Jemez Springs. Per his obituary, Farrell resided at Via Coeli for 10 years.

Sources:

Fr. Miguel Flores

Ordained: 1994
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

From Guadalajara, Mexico. Ordained in Bolivia. Ministered and taught in Chile. Studied in Argentina and Australia. Taught in Peru, studied in Colombia. Arrived in the Fresno diocese from Mexico in 1999. Accused by a 16-year-old girl in 2002 of sexual assault 1/2002-2/2002. She was his office assistant at parishes in Tranquility and Hanford. Acquitted by jury in 8/2002 on three counts of forcible rape, three counts of sex with a minor and charge of making threats and intimidating a witness. Returned to active ministry. Case reopened in 2019 after new information deemed credible. Placed on leave in 2/2019. HIs alleged victim filed suit against the diocese in 2/2020 under the CA Child Victims Act.

Sources:

Fr. Sauveur Tambourin

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1968
Status: Accused

Died: 11/5/1994
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

"Sam." Ordained for the Diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes, France. Incardinated in 1971 into the Diocese of Fresno. Included in 2021 on the Fresno diocese's list of credibly accused. Noted to have left the diocese in 1974 to work as a US Navy chaplain and to have died in 1994. Per his obituary, Tambourin was a Navy chaplain for 20 years. At the time of his death he was pastor of St. Mary of the Mountains in Virginia City and a chaplain at Fallon Naval Base.

Assignments:

Diocese of Fresno List accessed 01.17.22

Sources:

Fr. Benjamin S. Gabriel

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1947
Status: Sued

Died: 03/27/1986
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Archdiocese of Lipa, Philippines. Incardinated into the Fresno diocese in 1979, where he had worked in parishes since at least 1971. Accused in a 2003 lawsuit of abusing a boy at St. Jude's in Earlimart for two years in the mid-1970s. Gabriel died in 1986. His name was included in 8/2021 on the Fresno diocese's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. Robert Gamel

Ordained: 1990
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Removed 8/15/2014. Investigated by police for alleged internet-related sex crimes involving at least one teenage boy. Computers and hard drives seized from rectory of St. Joseph's in Los Banos where he had worked since 2009. Police said parishioners were uncomfortable with Gamel's behavior with young males, including rubbing the back of a sleeping teen, and hugging a youth in a single-person restroom. Pleaded no contest 3/11/2016 to possessing child porn. Sentenced in 5/2016 to 11 months in jail and 4 years probation. Ordered to register as a sex offender. Assignments included Christ the King and St. Joseph's Mission in Oildale, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bakersfield, St. Ann's in Ridgecrest, St. Joseph's in Boron and Our Lady of Lourdes in California City. Released from jail in 12/2016. Arrested again 4/12/2017 on child porn possession. Pleaded not guilty 5/2017. Pleaded no contest 11/28/2017, sentenced to 4 years in state prison. Released 4/13/2019.

Sources:

Fr. Louis Aloysius Garcia

Ordained: 1963
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Accused of abusing several developmentally disabled patients 5/1979-8/1980 at Porterville State Hospital, where he was chaplain. Suspended in 1981. Civil litigation and criminal charges filed. Matters taken to California's Court of Appeals. Sentenced to 6 years in 1983. Onn sick leave per the 1988 Catholic Directory. Listed on the CA sex offender registry as of 5/15/2011. Included in 8/2021 on the diocese's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. John J. Gaynor

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1935
Status: Accused

Died: 04/13/1953
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained in Philadelphia for the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. His faculties were revoked five years after his 1935 ordination. He reportedly left the diocese in 1941 without permission and died by suicide in 1953. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fresno on its list in 8/2021.

Sources:

Fr. Jorge de Jesus Gomez Forunda

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1990
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala. Worked as an extern priest in the Diocese of Fresno 2001-2003. Returned to Guatemala in 2004. "Jorge Gomez" per the 2003 Official Catholic Directory. Included in 2021 on the Fresno diocese's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Diocese of Fresno List accessed 01.17.22

Fr. Ramon Salvador Gomez

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1973
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Named publicly as accused by the Archdiocese of San Antonio on its list 1/31/2019. Ordained for the Diocese of Tapachula, Mexico. Extern priest in the Diocese of Fresno 1980-1981. Worked in the San Antonio diocese at two parishes, one in Carrizo Springs, 1984-1987. Dismissed after law enforcement from California informed the Archdiocese that Gomez was accused of child sex abuse in that state. Gomez moved to Jalisco, Mexico, and would return to Carrizo Springs without faculties or permission for priestly ministry, despite the objections of the parish pastor and letter from the archbishop to Tapachula's bishop. In 1991 a teenage boy reported that he and two others had been abused by Gomez during a visit to Carrizo Springs. The Archdiocese deemed the allegations credible, and informed law enforcement. Released by a judge in Mexico in 2006 for lack of evidence after being accused of raping minors. Included in 2021 on the Diocese of Fresno's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. Craig F. Harrison

Ordained: 1987
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Monsignor. Sheriff's Office and Police chaplain. Adopted 8 boys. Suspended in 4/2019; investigation of inappropriate touch of a boy, ages 14-16, decades prior in Firebaugh. Report to the Diocese in 4/2012; Diocese told police three days later. Harrison denied the claims. The Bakersfield community responded with overwhelming support for Harrison. In late 4/2019 two more men alleged abuse as minors by Harrison. One of them had reported in 1998 and again in 2002 that Harrison abused him in Firebaugh in 1998. Unsubstantiated, per the Diocese in 2002. Case closed by Bakersfield police in 6/2019. The Fresno Diocese continued to investigate. Harrison filed a slander lawsuit in 8/2019 against the Roman Catholic Faithful, a group publicizing claims Harrison abused in Firebaugh. He also sued the Diocese and a monk. The Merced County D.A. said in 11/2019 there would be no charges due to the statute of limitations. In 2/2020 the Fresno D.A. said no charges due to the statute of limitations, but the allegations appeared credible. Harrison resigned from the priesthood in 2/2021. Two suits filed in 6/2021. Included on the Fresno diocese's list in 8/2021 of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. Anthony G. Herdegen

Ordained: 1946
Status: Settled

Died: 03/17/2009
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Monsignor. Retired in 1995. A 12/2003 lawsuit claimed of abuse of two brothers, ages 5-19 and 10-15, starting in 1959. No criminal charges due to the statute of limitations. Appeals Court ruled in 5/2008 that the lawsuit could go forward because Cardinal Mahony's testimony indicated the church was or should have been aware that Herdegen might have been an abuser. The CA Supreme Court declined to hear appeal on decision to go forward. Trial began in 3/2009. Herdegen died 3/17/2009. Jury found for the Diocese on the statute of limitations 4/3/2009. One plaintiff was to get a new trial. The younger brother received a settlement. Herdegen's name was included on the Fresno diocese's list of credibly accused in 8/2021.

Fr. Ronald LaBarrera Villarreal

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1986
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Diocese of Trujillo, Peru. Named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fresno on its list in 2021. Worked as an extern priest in the Fresno diocese for a month in the summer of 2004 and in 2007 at weekend retreats.

Documents:

Diocese of Fresno List accessed 01.17.22

Fr. Robert H. Lewis

Ordained: 1930
Status: Sued

Died: 09/10/1978
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Accused in a lawsuit[s] filed sometime 2020-2022 of the sexual abuse of a [minor]s. Per the Official Catholic Directory, Lewis' last assignment was at St. Catherine's in Dinuba, approximately 1959-1960. He retired to Mexico in 1960, where he appears to have lived until his death in 1978.

Sources:

Fr. Michael J. Mangan

Ordained: 1937
Status: Accused

Died: 05/24/1985
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Monsignor. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 2021. Worked in Bakersfield, Tehachapi, and Sangor, where he was pastor 1946 to 1953. Pastor of Star of the Sea in Santa Cruz 1953 until his retirement in 1974, per the Official Catholic Directory. Appears to have lived the last few years of his life in the Diocese of Tucson, AZ. Died 5/24/1985.

Sources:

Fr. Patrick J. McGrath

Ordained: 1906
Status: Accused

Died: 10/20/1943
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Monsignor. Ordained in 1906 for what was then the Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles. Died in 1943. Included in 2021 on the Diocese of Fresno's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. Pascal Merola

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1928
Status: Accused

Died: 03/24/1977
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fresno on its list in 8/2021. It notes that Merola's faculties were suspended in 1934 and he left the Diocese of Fresno. Merola later joined the Benedictine order, making his solemn vows in 1956. He died in 1977.

Sources:

Fr. Anthony Moreno

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1979
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Accused in a lawsuit filed in 1/2020 under the CA Child Victims Act of sexually abusing a girl, age 12, in 1979-1980 at St. Philip the Apostle in Bakersfield. The girl's father is said to have reported the abuse to church officials; Moreno was kept in ministry and moved by 12/1980 to Sacred Heart in Fresno. Per the Diocese, it received two allegations against Moreno in about 1979-1980, and a third allegation was reported in 2008. Moreno was placed on leave 6/23/1981 and "stopped serving as a priest" 2/9/1995. The Diocese offered the alleged victim financial compensation in 5/2020. He reportedly was working as a Boy Scouts leader in Rosamond CA after the lawsuit was filed.

Sources:

Fr. Juan Naldoza Nacauili

Ordained: 1961
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Archdiocese of Jaro, Philippines. Incardinated into the Diocese of Fresno in 1976, having worked there since at least 1972. Returned to the Philippines in 1991 due to "poor health." Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2121. Noted to have died in 1998.

Sources:

Fr. Walter Nicholson

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1926
Status: Accused

Died: 06/27/1947
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained in 1926 for the Diocese of Ossory, Ireland. Incardinated the same year into the Diocese of Cheyenne. Worked as an extern priest in the Diocese of Fresno 1944-1947. Died in 1947.

Sources:

Fr. Vincent A. O’Connell

Order: CSSp
Ordained: 1939
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

From Ireland. Worked in Nigeria. Visiting priest in Fresno between assignments in 1970. Assigned to St. Anthony of Padua in Fresno. Accused in a 2013 civil suit of manually raping a 16-year-old girl. Her father died suddenly and O'Connell spent a lot of time with her family before allegedly raping her. Reportedly living in 2013 in a home for the Holy Ghost Fathers in Dublin, Ireland. In 2012, the same woman filed a separate suit against the Archdiocese of San Francisco for not doing anything when told of the abuse in 2003.

Sources:

Fresno Bee 05.08.13
The Journal (Ireland) 05.14.13

Fr. Bernardine Solvyns

Donate Photo

Order: OSB
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained in Belgium. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2021. Noted to have been pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in California City 1969-1985.

Sources:

Diocese of Fresno List accessed 01.17.22

Fr. Eric Swearingen

Ordained: 1987
Status: Settled

Died: 01/18/2020
Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish when sued in 2002; briefly placed on leave. Accused of abusing a teenage altar boy at Our Lady Of Guadalupe in Bakersfield 1989-1993. The Diocese deemed allegation not credible. Allowed to return to ministry after the D.A'.s office did not pursue criminal charges in 11/2002; said no evidence and no witnesses. Mistrial in civil case 12/20/2006 due to split decision: the jury ruled Swearingen did likely abuse the boy, but the Diocese did not have prior knowledge. The suit required both claims to be true. Case went to binding arbitration in 5/2007 to settle the suit. Named rector of a diocesan high school in 12/2007. Named pastor 6/2014 of the Catholic Church of Visalia, also called Good Shepherd. Placed on leave in 6/5/2019 due to new information from the 2006 civil case. Reportedly ill with brain cancer. Died 1/18/2020, age 58. Included in 8/2021 on the Diocese's list of credibly accused.

Assignments:

Sources:

Fr. Jose Luis Vega Sanchez

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1954
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Fresno CA

Ordained for the Diocese of Tulancingo, Mexico. Incardinated in 1990 into the Diocese of Fresno. Pastor 1996-2004 of St. Mary's in Cutler. Retired in 2004 to Mexico. The 2014 Catholic Directory lists Vega as at the Basilica of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2021. Faculties noted to be suspended.

Sources:

Our Database of Publicly Accused does not state or imply that individuals facing allegations are guilty of a crime or liable for civil claims. The reports contained in the database are merely allegations. The U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.