California Clergy Sexual Abuse Attorneys

California Attorneys Investigating Sexual Assault Claims Against the Roman Catholic Church Archdioceses

705 Clergy Members in California Have Been Accused of Sexual Abuse

Are you or your loved one a victim of California clergy abuse? Schedule a free case evaluation today with the personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC. Contact us at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call).

Our experienced team of legal representatives will fight to protect your rights and provide a safe place to talk about what happened. Our clergy sexual abuse lawyers are ready to hear your story. Our law firm has a comprehensive understanding of CA tort law and uses the legal system to help survivors seek justice through a childhood sexual abuse case.

Sexual abuse by a religious leader can create lifelong physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wounds. Often, the survivor faces unimaginable challenges when dealing with their trauma.

Many clergy sexual abuse victims remain silent for years, suffering alone, unable to speak to others about what happened.

In recent years, many victims have stepped forward to uncover the abuse by clergy members and how Church officials who looked the other way, failing to take action to stop the abusive behavior immediately. Many sexual abuse survivors come forward after years of suffering quietly.

Priests suspected of clergy abuse and church officials that covered up sexual abuse cases cannot be allowed to escape accountability for child sexual abuse allegations.

California Clergy Sexual Assault – The Problem Remains

Since the 1930s, the Roman Catholic leaders covered up accusations of sexual assault involving religious leaders and innocent adults and children.

Recent reports have identified sexually inappropriate events involving Priest, Pastors, Bishops, Brothers, and Sisters of all religious orders molesting adults and children in their parish.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles paid a female childhood sexual abuse victim $500,000 to settle a case involving sexual molestation by a priest. The victim, who had been sexually assaulted by Father Santiago Tame, was one plaintiff included in the Archdiocese’s 2007 $660 million settlement.

Some Catholic leaders have set up an independent compensation program to resolve clergy sexual abuse cases. Many assault survivors find peace in the justice of holding the predator and religious leader accountable.

Filing a damage recovery claim through the independent compensation program can be complicated, requiring the legal assistance of an experienced compensation abuse attorney that specializes in clergy injury cases.

The Statute of Limitations for Victims of Clergy Abuse

In January 2020, an LA Times article revealed six clergy abuse lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Dioceses of San Diego involving sexual abuse occurring decades ago committed by now-deceased religious leaders.

A victim sexually assaulted years ago has extended time past the old statute of limitations and can file an old claim until December 31, 2022. Many new plaintiffs submitted their suits the day after the state legislature changed the statute of limitations (AB 218) that extended the time that victims could file these types of lawsuits after the clergy abuse occurred.

California joined other nationwide jurisdictions, including New York and Pennsylvania in changing time restrictions to help victims of childhood sexual file lawsuits as adults.

The state law change expanded the minimum age a victim can file a claim alleging sexual assault by Catholic clergy from twenty-six years of age to forty.

The bill also allows a three-year window for survivors of sexual abuse of any age to refile a claim that may have been previously prohibited when the statute of limitations expired from when they were victims of clergy sexual misconduct.

Most child sexual abuse compensation lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic leaders and the abusive priests reveal a cover-up involving church officials who were not interested in protecting the victim nor providing much-needed mental health care for the predator.

Legal officials believe the many newly submitted lawsuits by victims of California clergy abuse are just the tip of the iceberg of cases to be filed against Catholics, other religious institutions, and youth organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, and the Mormon Church.

LA and Tucson Dioceses Facing Federal Racketeering Allegations in 2021

The LA Times reported in January 2021 that a RICO (federal racketeering) lawsuit was filed on December 31, 2020, against the Dioceses of Tucson and the Archdiocese of LA.

The lawsuit charges that the Roman Catholic Church in Tucson allegedly served as a "dumping ground" for clergy sexual predators from the Archdiocese of LA. The Tucson Sentinel reported that "this is the 2nd major case of its kind after a recent change to state law gave sexual abuse victims more time to take their abusers and organizations that protected them to court."

Numerous lawsuits filed in Arizona court allege that Texas's church officials relocated allegedly abusive priests to Arizona. The Arizona state governor signed House Bill 2466 into law in 2019, giving child victims of sexual misconduct additional time to file lawsuits in civil court.

The Catholic leaders have faced racketeering charges before. Years ago, charges were made against the church for transferring "problem" priests from Ireland to other countries.

The recent charges allege that the LA Archdiocese knowingly exported priest and seminarian sexual predators and those suspected of sexual misconduct to Tucson to prey on Southern Arizona parishioners. These relocations exposed victim-survivors of sexual abuse of minors by priests and seminarians.

Over the years, the LA and Tucson diocese have routinely compensated clergy sexual predators to travel and live outside the state to avoid criminal and civil prosecution. The actions of Church officials had likely obstructed criminal investigations when they looked the other way, failed to report, and relocated known abusive clergy members to other dioceses.

California Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawyers are Ready to Help

Our network of sexual abuse attorneys understands how difficult it is for abuse survivors to speak out about what a shameful clergy member did to you.

We know that the church uses its power to push back and say that what happened was not wrong. However, with Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, on your side, you will never stand there alone. We help sexual abuse survivors when they decide that they want to take action against the Catholic Church.

Let a clergy abuse attorney begin working on your clergy sexual abuse case today. Speak out now and file a lawsuit. An abuse attorney can help you take legal action as you try to get financial compensation for the child sex abuse that you endured. Contact our law firm now at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or through the contact form to schedule a free consultation.

All information you share with our clergy abuse attorneys during an initial, free consultation concerning your case will remain confidential through an attorney-client relationship.

California Roman Catholic Dioceses

In California, Roman Catholics are the single largest religious group of all faiths statewide. The two archdioceses, twelve dioceses, and their Bishops manage more than 1270 parishes in fifty-eight counties across California (listed below).

Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg
1510 East Mountain St
Glendale, California 91207
armeniancatholic.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Mikaël Mouradian

Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle
1627 Jamacha Way
El Cajon, CA 92019
Website: kaldu.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Emanuel H. Shaleta
• Bishop of Chaldean Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle of San Diego

Diocese of Fresno
1550 North Fresno Street
Fresno, California 93707-3788
Website: dioceseoffresno.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Joseph V. Brennan, Bishop of Fresno
• Bishop Armando X. Ochoa, Bishop Emeritus of Fresno

Archdiocese of Los Angeles
3424 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2202
Website: la-archdiocese.org/

• Archbishop José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles
• Bishop Alex Aclan
• Bishop Robert Barron
• Bishop Edward W. Clark
• Bishop David G. O’Connell
• Bishop Marc V. Trudeau
• Bishop Thomas J. Curry
• Bishop Alexander Salazar
• Bishop Joseph M. Sartoris
• Bishop Gerald E. Wilkerson
• Bishop Gabino Zavala
• Cardinal Roger M. Mahony

Diocese of Monterey
P.O. Box 2048
Monterey, California 93942
Website: dioceseofmonterey.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Daniel E. Garcia
• Bishop of Monterey
• Bishop Sylvester D. Ryan
• Bishop Emeritus of Monterey

Diocese of Oakland
2121 Harrison Street
Suite 100
Oakland, California 94612
Website: oakdiocese.org/

Accused of Clergy Sex Abuse:

• Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ Bishop of Oakland
• Bishop John S. Cummins, Bishop Emeritus of Oakland

Diocese of Orange
Pastoral Center
13280 Chapman Avenue
Garden Grove, California 92840
rcbo.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Kevin W. Vann
• Bishop of Orange
• Bishop Timothy E. Freyer
• Bishop Thanh Thai Nguyen
• Bishop Tod D. Brown
• Bishop Emeritus of Orange

Diocese of Sacramento
2110 Broadway
Sacramento, California 95818
diocese-sacramento.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Jaime Soto
• Bishop of Sacramento
• Bishop William K. Weigand

Diocese of San Bernardino
1201 E. Highland Avenue
San Bernardino, California 92404-5300
Website: sbdiocese.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Gerald R. Barnes
• Bishop of San Bernardino
• Bishop Alberto Rojas
• Coadjutor Bishop of San Bernardino
• Bishop Rutilio J. del Riego

Diocese of San Diego
P.O. Box 85728
San Diego, California 92186-5728

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Robert W. McElroy
• Bishop and Bishop Emeritus of San Diego
• Bishop John P. Dolan
• Bishop Robert H. Brom
• Bishop Gilbert E. Chávez

Archdiocese of San Francisco
One Peter Yorke Way
San Francisco, California 94109
sfarchdiocese.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone
• Archbishop of San Fransisco
• Bishop William J. Justice
• Bishop Ignatius C. Wang

Diocese of San Jose
1150 North 1st Street
Suite 100
San Jose, California 95112-4966
dsj.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Oscar Cantú, Bishop of San Jose
• Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, Bishop Emeritus of San Jose

Diocese of Santa Rosa
P.O. Box 1297
Santa Rosa, California 95402
santarosacatholic.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop of Santa Rosa
• Bishop Robert F. Vasa
• Bishop Daniel F. Walsh
• Bishop Emeritus of Santa Rosa

Dioceses of Stockton
212 N. San Joaquin Street
Stockton, California 95202-2409
stocktondiocese.org/

Accused of Clergy Abuse:

• Bishop Myron J. Cotta
• Bishop of Stockton