The allegations are gruesome:
The Rev. Watt was accused in a lawsuit of taking an altar boy in the mid-1970s to gay bars in San Francisco, getting him drunk, sexually abusing him and telling him, “don’t tell your parents or I’ll cut your balls off.”
Watt is one of 14 NorCal priests who is accused for the FIRST time PUBLICLY under California’s AB 218, a landmark law that allows men and women sexually abused as children in the state to use the civil courts for justice—no matter the abuser or when the abuse occurred. The window portion of the law expires on December 31, 2022. Many survivors have only until then to come forward and use the courts.
Sixty-six priests are named over all.
The newly named clergy include:
- Fr. James Corley
- Fr. Sidney Hall
- Fr. John A. Lynch
- Fr. John Francis Scanlon
- Fr. William Dodson
- Fr. Henry Hall
- Sis. M. Rosella McConnell
- Fr. Joseph Watt
- Fr. Elwood Geary
- Fr. Domingos S. Jacque
- Br. U Benedict Reams
- Fr. Robert Gemmet
- Fr. Robert H. Lewis
- Fr. Christian Sandholdt
Other previously accused clergy include:
Fr. James Corley
Fr. Martin Greenlaw
Fr. Robert H. Lewis
Msgr. John T. McCracken
Fr. Francisco Javier Ochoa
Br. U Benedict Reams
Fr. Eric Swearingen
Fr. Joseph Watt
Fr. William Dodson
Fr. Domingos S. Jacque
Fr. John A. Lynch
Msgr. Michael J. McGinty
Fr. Hector David Mendoza Vela
Fr. Patrick O’Shea
Fr. Christian Sandholdt
Fr. John Crews
Fr. Elwood Geary
Fr. Sidney Hall
Fr. Robert Marsicek
Fr. Joseph McGovern
Fr. Vito Mistretta
Fr. Ted Oswald
Fr. Jesus Prieto
Fr. John Francis Scanlon
Fr. John Crowley
Fr. Robert Gemmet
Fr. Henry Hall
Sis. M. Rosella McConnell
Fr. Patrick McHugh
Fr. Anthony Moreno
Fr. Maurice Joseph O’Brien
Fr. Simon Twomey
Fr. William Storan
According to Jeff Anderson and Associates, Br. Billante is identified in at least 11 lawsuits and Stephen Kiesle is identified in at least nine.
It’s hard to come up with a way to close a post like this … except to say: if you were abused, please come forward. It’s safe. And you can stop the cycle of abuse.