SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Months after the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento released the names of 46 members of the clergy who were credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors or young adults, the church revealed that at least five new victims have been identified.
The church said this is a case of more victims coming forward based on the names of credibly accused clergy that have been released so far. The church believes the incidents took place in the ‘80s. No new priests were identified.
ABC10 recently sat down for exclusive discussion with Bishop of the Sacramento Catholic Diocese Jaime Soto — his first since the church revealed the names of 44 priests and two deacons credibly accused of sexually abusing children and young adults over the past 70 years.
"We are in a very dark moment for the church," Soto told ABC10's Chris Thomas during the interview. "We want to encourage victims to come forward to tell us their story and for us to hear that and to look into any new accusations that come in."
With the addition of the five new victims, the Sacramento Diocese says the total of known survivors is 135.
Four of the online priest files have already been updated to reflect five additional victims who have come forward. The priests were John Crowley, Gerardo Beltran Rico, Thomas Dermody and Vito Mistretta. All of them had one new victim added, except for Mistretta. He had two.
The church says Beltran was a fugitive in Mexico. Investigators said he disappeared 10 years ago. According to the church, the other three priests are now deceased.
Meanwhile, Soto said the list will continue to be amended.
"This has been very difficult for people to read, but also I acknowledge that there are probably victims out there who never came forward and, for whatever reason, never told their story. The list can be amended both in terms of victims and in terms of perpetrators that we don't know about."
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