Diocese of Yakima WA - BishopAccountability.org

20 Accused in This Diocese

Fr. Christopher Breen

Ordained: 1960
Status: Settled

From Ireland. Arrived in Yakima in 1960, immediately after ordination. A woman filed a civil suit in 9/2008 alleging that Breen abused her 1968-1972, when she was in her teens and a parishioner of St. Paul Cathedral. She had gone to Breen for counseling. He also taught at the diocesan high school. Took a leave of absence in the 1970s, never returned. Married in 1976. Suit settled in 3/2011 for $287.5K. Named in a second suit in 11/2010 as having knowledge of abuse by Rev. Sean Dolan and doing nothing. On the diocese's list 7/9/2019. It notes multiple claims and lawsuits settled. Died in 2023.

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Deacon Robert Davalle

Ordained: 1986
Status: Guilty plea

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Ordained a permanent deacon in 1986, assigned to Christ the King in Richland. Volunteer with middle and high school students at the parish beginning 1978. In 6/2017 a 15-year-old girl told her youth group leader that Davalle molested her when she was younger. Davalle was arrested 6/27/2017, and charged with molesting the girl and her sister 8 or 9 years prior, when they were ages 8-12. Davalle admitted to the abuse, and said he sexually assaulted another girl, about age 10. Pleaded guilty in 5/2018. Sentenced in 9/2018 to a minimum of more than five years in prison. Included on the diocese's list 7/9/2019. It notes the abuse was in "non-ministerial settings."

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Fr. Sean Dolan

Ordained: 1966
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Ordained in Ireland. Worked in the Yakima diocese until the mid-1970s when he left the priesthood. Two women filed suit in 11/2010 alleging abuse by Dolan between 1967 and 1975 at St. Paul Cathedral when they were about 16 years old. Both had gone to Dolan for counseling. He died in 2007. The suit also named the parish pastor, Rev. Christopher Breen - also later accused - as having known of the abuse and doing nothing. Included on the diocese's list 7/9/2019. It notes multiple claims and lawsuits settled.

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Fr. Paul Funari

Donate Photo

Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Arrived in WA from Puerto Rico in 1952. Named publicly as accused by the diocese on its list 7/9/2019. It notes a lawsuit pending, and no prior claims or reports. Deceased. Had voluntarily left ministry. The list in 11/2021 notes that the suit settled and the abuse was unsubstantiated.

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Fr. Brian T. Gallagher

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Ordained: 1960
Status: Accused

Died: 07/29/2008
Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

From Ireland. Arrived in WA several months after ordination. Named publicly as accused by the diocese on its list 7/9/2019. It notes that Gallagher was returned to ministry after treatment, and retired in 1991. Died 7/29/2008.

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Fr. Gustavo Gomez Santos

Ordained: 2002
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

From Guadalajara ,Mexico, ordained in Yakima. Removed from public ministry 5/5/2017, as reported by the Diocese 6//12/2017, for the "forcible fondling" of a teenage boy five or six years prior. Church deemed allegation credible. Gomez Santos denied the allegation, but admitted to giving alcohol, massages and gifts to minors, including trips to Disneyland. He also allowed teens to sleep over in his parish residences. Said by the Diocese to be living in a supervised setting. No criminal charges due to a three-year statute of limitations in WA. Lawsuit v Diocese filed in 10/2017 alleging abuse of a teenage boy at St. Juan Diego parish in Cowiche in 2012. On the Diocese's list 7/9/2019, which notes laicization process underway. Per the list updated in 2023, the 2017 lawsuit was settled in 2022 and Gomez was laicized.

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Fr. Joseph A. Graaff

Ordained: 1955
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Assigned in Waterville, Chelan, East Wenatchee and Leavenworth 1958-1979. Lawsuit filed in 3/2010 alleged Graaff abused a girl, ages 9-11, in 1972-1974, while he was assigned to St. Joseph's in Waterville. He died in 1990. The suit was dismissed 2/6/2013 after the Diocese argued there was "insufficient evidence to allow the claim to go to trial." On the Diocese's list 7/9/2019, which notes a small settlement in lieu of appeal.

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Fr. Peter P. Hagel

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Ordained: 1962
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Accused in a 4/2019 lawsuit, along with three other priests, of abusing a boy in the 1970s and 1980s at a YMCA building used by the diocese, and at St. Andrew's parish. Hagel's accuser said the abuse began when he was age 10, and that it included being forced into sex acts with other boys. On the diocese's list 7/9/2019. It notes a civil investigation in 1980 that did not result in charges and a lawsuit was pending in a new case. Retired, no active ministry. The Diocese's list in 11/2021 notes that the lawsuit settled, the abuse was not substantiated and Hagel is deceased.

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Fr. Anthony S. King

Ordained: 1959
Status: Settled

Died: 11/4/2001
Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

A man filed a lawsuit in 1/2007 alleging he was abused by King and another priest, Richard O'Connor, as a high school student in the mid-1960s. Abuse by King may have occurred in Spokane after several priests and students were transferred there from Yakima when St. Peter the Apostle Seminary in Cowiche closed. King died in 2001. Settled in 1/2010 for $150K. Included on the Yakima diocese's list 7/9/2019.

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Fr. David G. King

Order: SJ
Ordained: 1949
Status: Sued

Died: 07/31/2002
Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Worked in Seattle, Yakima and Tacoma, WA and in Portland, OR. Accused in a 2004 lawsuit of abusing of a 13-year-old boy in the early 1950s at Marquette High School for Boys in Yakima. Left Jesuit High School in Portland in 1993. Died 7/31/2002. Civil suit dismissed in 7/2006 due to "lack of activity." Per the Jesuits West list 12/7/2018, there were reports in 1999 and 2009 of abuse in 1966-1970 and 1968-1971. Included on the Yakima diocese's list 7/9/2019.

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Fr. James Kovalik

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Ordained: 1959
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Parish priest, high school teacher and athletics coach. Named publicly as accused by the Diocese on its list 7/9/2019. It notes that Kovalik declined treatment, left ministry and was laicized. Shown in the Official Catholic Directory as in active ministry into 1963, and Absent on Leave for many years thereafter. Deceased.

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Fr. Darrell J. Mitchell

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Ordained: 1998
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Working in Yakima in 2003 when accused of having nude pictures of boys on his computer. Suspended during the investigation by the FBI and Church. Sent to a treatment facility in St. Louis for evaluation. Eventually cleared of wrongdoing. Transferred to the St. Louis Archdiocese and allowed to return to active ministry without notice to parishioners. Resigned in 1/07 "because he had been hounded so much." Assigned as director of Calvary Cemetery in Yakima as of 10/11.

Fr. Richard J. O’Connor

Ordained: 1964
Status: Settled

Died: 02/1/1989
Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

A man filed suit in 1/2007 alleging he was abused by O'Connor and another priest, Anthony King, as a high school student in the mid-1960s. O'Connor was a teacher at St. Peter the Apostle Seminary in Cowiche. The alleged abuse by O'Connor occurred before the seminary was closed and students and priests were transferred to Seattle. Died in 1989. Case settled in 1/2010 for $150K. On the Diocese's list 7/9/2019.

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Deacon Aaron Ramirez

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Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Member of the Sons of the Holy Family in Mexico when was asked to leave and denied reinstatement in 1996. Arrived in WA in 1998. Working as a deacon in the Diocese of Yakima in 1999 when accused of inviting a 17-year-old boy to spend the evening with him at a church trailer home. The boy passed out on the porch after Ramirez gave him alcohol, and woke up nude on a bed with the nude deacon lying beside him. Admitted the abuse. Police informed. Ramirez fled to Mexico before the diocese or police could investigate. Laicized in 2000. Later became an Episcopal priest outside of Mexico City. Dismissed after publicity about the U.S. abuse. Civil suit filed in 7/2011. Federal trial underway in 3/2014. Judge ruled 6/12/2014 that the diocese was not responsible. This decision was made despite the fact that no personnel file for the deacon could be located in diocesan files. On the diocese's list 7/9/2019.

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Fr. Hilario Ramirez

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Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Visiting priest from the Mexico, possibly the Archdiocese of Mexico City. Spent several weeks at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Moses Lake WA and Queen of All Saints in Warden WA in the early 1970s, as well as at St. Joseph's in Dilley TX in the 1970s. The Archdiocese of San Antonio stated that Ramirez had never had an assignment or faculties to minister there. Returned to Mexico and is believed to have died in auto accident in the early 1980s. As of 12/2012, he had been accused of abusing at least four boys between the ages of 7 and 14. Two of the accusers were offered counseling. Two others are deceased. Parishioners were informed 12/16/2012, but authorities had known for months. On the Yakima diocese's list 7/9/2019. It notes a first victim was provided counseling, and a second given a financial settlement.

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Fr. Richard Scully

Donate Photo

Ordained: 1978
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Accused in a 1994 civil lawsuit of abusing a 15-year-old boy in 1980 at a parish school. The suit claims Fr. Dale Calhoun also abused the youth. Removed from a parish in the Yakima diocese in 1988 and sent to treatment. Later moved to Hereford TX. Working in Amarillo TX 1989-3/2002 when he resigned. At least two claims settled confidentially. A Seattle priest stated publicly in 2004 that Scully abused him in the 1970s when he was 15; reported to the Church in 2003. Name included on the Seattle archdiocese's list 1/15/2016. Accused in a 4/2019 suit, along with three other priests, of abuse of a Yakima boy in the 1970s and 1980s at St. Andrew's parish and at a YMCA building used by the diocese. This accuser said the abuse began when he was age 10, and that it included being forced into sex acts with other boys. Laicized. Included on Yakima's list 7/9/2019. A 2020 lawsuit settled, per the diocese's list updated in 11/2021, and the abuse was not substantiated. Per the list updated 3/15/2023, Scully is deceased.

Fr. Michael J. Simpson

Donate Photo

Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

From Ireland. A woman filed suit 2005 accusing Simpson of abuse of several girls in early 1960s. Three more women filed suits in 6/2006 claiming abuse as young girls. Diocese settled four cases in 1/2008 for $200K. Simpson was known as a chronic alcoholic and had to sign a sobriety oath before working in the diocese. He died in Ireland in 1977. New suit in 9/2018 alleges Simpson and another (unnamed) priest sexually abused a girl for ten years, beginning when she was age five, in the late 1950s into the 1960s at St. Aloysius in Toppenish. She said the abuse by Simpson began when he replaced the other priest around 1960, and she was in about third grade. The abuse allegedly included rape, resulted in a miscarried pregnancy when the girl was 12, and ended when he left the parish when she was 14 . On the diocese's list 7/9/2019. Per the diocese's list updated in 11/2021, a 2019 lawsuit settled and the abuse was not substantiated.

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Fr. John L. Tholen

Ordained: 1962
Status: Settled

Died: 01/14/2012
Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

A man told the Diocese in 1997 that Tholen groomed him and then assaulted him once in the early 1960s at Holy Redeemer Parish. The Bishop apologized and offered a settlement. Tholen retired the same year, for medical reasons. In 1999, a brother of the original complainant filed a civil suit claiming abuse by Tholen when he was a minor. Settled in 2000. Tholen died in 1/2012. Included on the Diocese's list 7/9/2019.

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Fr. Carlton E. Whitten

Order: SJ
Ordained: 1961
Status: Accused

Died: 12/10/2020
Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Placed on leave in 12/2007 and moved from his residence at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, CA. Order investigated "an alleged recent incident of improper touching involving a 17-year-old boy while on a pastoral assignment" in White Salmon, WA. Often filled in along the western coast states for priests on vacation or leave. Included on the Jesuit West Province list 12/7/2018. Noted to be still living at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, on a safety plan. Died 12/10/2020.

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Fr. William M. Wood

Donate Photo

Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Yakima WA

Named publicly as accused by the Yakima diocese on its list 7/9/2019. It notes that Wood received treatment, was incardinated into the Diocese of Gary in 1972, then the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and that he left the Catholic Church in 1981. Deceased.

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Diocese of Yakima List 07.09.19

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.