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	Testimony Starts in First California Church Case to Go to Trial By Kim Curtis Associated Press, carried in Union-Tribune [California] March 15, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO – At least two priests at a San Jose parish saw young boys visiting the room of another priest now accused of molestation, and one caught the priest with boys sitting on his lap, a lawyer told jurors Tuesday at the start of a civil sexual abuse trial. Attorney Larry Drivon, who represents victim Dennis Kavanaugh, 47, said the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard was seen numerous times with young boys in his room during the early 1970s. But those activities were never reported, he said during the first day of testimony in Kavanaugh's lawsuit against the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Jurors saw parts of a videotaped deposition by the Rev. William Leininger, a now-retired priest who lived at St. Martin of Tours when the abuse occurred. Leininger acknowledged he saw "lots of boys" go into Pritchard's room but thought they were watching television or playing games. "It was unusual activity, but we didn't think anything of it," Leininger said on the tape. "That's just the way things were." Kavanaugh's is the first of more than 750 civil lawsuits against California dioceses to go to trial since the state temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for filing sex-abuse claims in 2002. Neither side disputes that Kavanaugh was abused. The jury of six men and six women, which includes several Roman Catholics, must decide whether Pritchard's superiors knew or should have known about it. If they reach that conclusion, debate about damages will begin. Kavanaugh and four other claimants are seeking an unspecified amount. Officials with the Archdiocese of San Francisco said they were unaware of any abuse. "The archbishop had no reason to suspect or believe that this priest was doing what we now know he was doing," church lawyer Jim Goodman said. He said Pritchard, who died of cancer in 1988 before the allegations became known, was a highly respected and well-liked pastor at St. Martin of Tours. "What we know now ... is (Pritchard) shamefully, illegally took advantage of his position," Goodman said. Drivon said a second priest will testify that he saw children on Pritchard's lap "numerous times." Three of Pritchard's victims, including Kavanaugh, also will testify that Pritchard was caught in the act of molesting them by the Rev. Lino Pelerzi, another priest who lived in the rectory at the time. Church lawyers argued that Pelerzi, as a member of an Italy-based religious order, was not supervised by the archdiocese, so what he knew or didn't know was irrelevant. More than 750 civil cases are pending against Roman Catholic dioceses in California, with potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements or jury awards at stake. In December, the Diocese of Orange settled with about 90 plaintiffs for a record $100 million, or about $1.1 million per plaintiff. By contrast, plaintiffs against the Boston diocese settled for about $163,630 each. Some attorneys said the deal reached in Orange County will make resolution in other California cases more difficult, in part because plaintiffs have higher expectations for payouts. The scope of the legal action against California dioceses is so vast that the lawsuits have been lumped geographically into three consolidated cases, known simply as Clergy I, Clergy II and Clergy III. Clergy III covers 160 cases from the dioceses of San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Santa Rosa, Monterey, San Jose and Oakland. The plaintiffs allege they were abused by priests and other church officials, with some cases dating back more than 70 years. In July, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw, who is handling Northern California cases, upheld the constitutionality of the law lifting the statute of limitations and allowed all but a handful of the Northern California cases to proceed. Kavanaugh's suit against the San Francisco Archdiocese is the furthest along.
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