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	Catholic Church to Pay 12 Men Molested by Priest in the 1970s By Brandon Bailey Contra Costa Times [San Jose CA] July 10, 2005 SAN JOSE - Closing a major chapter in one of the Bay Area's most notorious cases of clergy sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic church will pay more than $16 million to 12 men who were molested in the 1970s by a popular San Jose priest. The agreement came as attorneys were preparing for a trial this week, in which one of the men was expected to testify that the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard abused him at St. Martin of Tours parish in San Jose -- and in the rectory of a Los Altos church after Pritchard moved to a new assignment there. More trials were scheduled to follow. While the settlement works out to an average of $1.3 million for each plaintiff, attorneys said the individual amounts varied and would not be disclosed. It is roughly comparable to a similar agreement reached last month with 10 other plaintiffs who said they also were molested by Pritchard when he was pastor at St. Martin of Tours. "It was a particularly appalling case. So many families, friends and neighbors in this very loyal and hard-working parish were damaged by Pritchard," said Richard Simons, an attorney for plaintiffs in the settlement announced Friday. "Money can't make up for what this guy did to us," added one of the men, 47-year-old Dennis Kavanaugh of San Jose. He said he went to court on behalf of himself and his friends, as well as for their parents, many of whom were racked with guilt when they learned of the abuse years after it occurred. "They didn't know, but they sent us there," to the parish school where Pritchard befriended many of his victims, Kavanaugh explained. San Francisco Archbishop William Levada confirmed the settlement in a brief written statement issued Friday, in which he apologized to Pritchard's victims and to "all other victims of the clergy child abuse scandals." The settlement will not be paid from parish or school funds, Levada said. Church officials said two-thirds of the settlement reached last month would be covered by insurance, but it's not yet known how much of the new agreement will be covered. That previous settlement provided $21 million to 15 people who were molested by local priests, including 10 who were abused by Pritchard. Attorneys in that case declined to say exactly how much will go to those 10; the specific amount varies by person. The Diocese of San Jose was not a party in either settlement because it was not established until 1981. The lawsuits involved events that occurred primarily in the 1970s, when Catholic churches in the South Bay were supervised by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Dozens of additional claims are still pending against the church in San Francisco and Oakland. Most involve other priests; there is still an unresolved lawsuit brought by a nephew of Pritchard who said he was abused by the priest in the 1950s. As first reported in the Mercury News three years ago, and later recounted in court, the story of Pritchard and his victims had been a well-kept secret for decades. The priest's living quarters at St. Martin's was a popular gathering spot for children from the parish school. Years later, the former students described how the priest would call them over to sit in his lap, and then reach under their clothes and fondle them. As children, they were confused and ashamed about the incidents. Most said they didn't tell their parents because they didn't think they would be believed. One boy told, however, and his father said he wrote a letter in 1977 to church officials in San Francisco. Church officials said they have no record of that complaint. Two years later, Pritchard had left St. Martin and was assigned to St. Nicholas parish in Los Altos. The former student whose trial was set to begin Monday has said that Pritchard continued to abuse him at St. Nicholas, where the priest would invite the boy to visit and do chores for small amounts of money. Pritchard died in 1988. The former students went public after a national scandal over clergy abuse erupted in 2002. One man, John Salberg of San Jose, contacted a reporter after he attempted to tell church officials and became frustrated by their response. The Mercury News found nine other men with similar experiences, and more came forward subsequently. Though most of the men initially said they didn't want to sue, more than 20 eventually filed legal claims. A few, including Kavanaugh, went to trial and won jury verdicts earlier this year. The jury awards were included in the two settlements. Many testified that the priest's sexual overtures caused lasting emotional damage, drug and alcohol problems, marital stress and other difficulties. And several said they were outraged by the impact on their parents, who had trusted and revered their pastor. "They got robbed," said one 40-year-old man, explaining that his blue-collar parents had scrimped and sacrificed to pay the tuition for St. Martin's school, thinking they were giving their son the best education they could afford.