Survivor Accuses Oakland Diocese of Sheltering Abusive Priest

By George Kelly
Bay Area News Group
October 11, 2018

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/11/survivor-accuses-oakland-diocese-of-sheltering-abusive-priest/

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests stood in midday sunshine on a sidewalk outside the shadowed doors of the Diocese of Oakland.

Before cameras and microphones, they called out Bishop Michael Barber for promising this week to begin an independent investigation into clergy sex abuse and to name priests credibly accused of abusing children.

The members of the group said that a priest convicted in a civil jury trial of abuse has been listed as a core team member of the Institute of Salesian Studies at Berkeley’s Don Bosco Hall.

SNAP member Joey Piscitelli won a lawsuit against that priest, the Rev. Steve Whelan, and stood with fellow volunteers Melanie Sakoda and Tim Stier.

“I was abused repeatedly in 1969 and 1970, and I brought a suit forward in 2003. They fought it until 2006,” Piscitelli said. “I won the case, and then they appealed it and it went to high court in California. I won both of their appeals, and in 2009 I got vindication and partial payment. The priest who molested me never paid anything.”