Me to this priest. He was a predator. I just remember always thinking he was you know, almost like a king or something. He would make me do things to him. Theyre scared out of their mind. They dont know what the hell happened. What do you think is going through their head. In 2023, we have brandnew allegations. Name your predators. We should not be here today teaching the bishop of San Francisco how to be responsible. Occurrences of abuse within the Catholic Church are very rare today. Why are you saying that these allegations are meritless . Well, were not going to try our case in the media. This thing never ends. You cant outrun the memories, so i might as well stand up to them. 20 years ago, the boston globe ripped open the scandal of widespread abuse by catholic priests, and one of the misconceptions, victim advocates say it was a problem of past as the Catholic Church is being buried in abuse lawsuits across california, its raising new questions about how the church is treating potential victims and handling accused priests. Over the past four years, we have reviewed hundreds of lawsuits. Weve spent hours going through catholic directories. How many times did this happen . It was like five or six times. And we have interviewed more than a dozen alleged victims. Most of their claims go back decades, but as we found, there are priests named in these new lawsuits who are currently working in churches without restrictions. I had a great childhood that was really happy. I had worked hard, because i wanted to be president one day. When i met father, he was a nice guy. How old were you . 15 and a half, 16. He invited me to his house to watch movies, so i rode my bike over to his house. He had a big pile of cocaine and marijuana on the table, and he started feeding me drinks and, i got really high and next thing, i passed out. How did you know it was father beand the court that gave you hiv . Because hes the one [ bleep ]. I had less than six months to live and get my things in order. I was afraid to sleep, because i didnt think i would wake up. How old are you now . Im 58. You never thought youd live this long. I never thought id see gray hair. Now i got a lot. 2019, californias child victims act, the new law cleared the way for survivors like Steven Chavez to sue their alleged abusers and those who enabled the abuse no matter how old the accusations. Potential victims had three years to file their cases. More than 4,000 people have come forward. And then that turned into taking my clothes off. I was scared. He said, speak of this to no one. Youll bring shame to your family, and you will be expelled from school. Catholic institutions across california say they are being financially ruined by the lawsuits. The Oakland Diocese has been hit with a wave of lawsuits. With many filing for bankruptcy over the past year. Accusers, however, say its their first sense of justice. He beat me. The church beat me, so now im not that same naive little boy anymore. To us as investigator journalists, the lawsuits were like a library of brandnew information on potential clergy abuse, and what we found were shocking new scandals and we found hundreds of priests across california facing child sexual abuse allegations for the very first time, like bishop floyd begin, the founding bishop of the Oakland Diocese. A new lawsuit accuses him of sexually assaulting a 12yearold girl in 1968 after he was already bishop. The think that is surprising is the number of priests accused who have never been accused recently. Like most of the newly accused priests, begin is dead, but dozens of them are still alive. We found some of them actively working in churches and schools in nearly over California Diocese in San Francisco, fresno, and some can perform weddings and baptisms and eight of the living priests works for the archdiocese of San Francisco and six of those priests are currently allowed to work despite the ongoing lawsuits. No matter how many lawsuits are filed, some say many victims will never come forward, and those who do usually take about 40 years. For an eightyearold or nineyearold to be rained, its unimaginable, but if you add to that the layering done by a priest, its being done by gods messenger on earth. Multiple accusers we spoke to say what happened to them changed the whole trajectory of their lives. I tried to od my whole life. Incarceration, in and out of jail, homelessness. Since it usually takes decades for victims to speak with someone, we likely wont get the full scope of any abuse thats happening right now for a long time, but we can get a pretty good sense of what may have happened in the past, and it might be worse than we approval knew. Victim advocates say they were aware of about 530 Northern California clerics both alive and dead, who have been accused at some point but its double the number. Who knows the scope and how big this is. This is an l. A. Attorney representing hubs of clients currently suing the Catholic Church. Are any of the priests still working as priests today . Yes. The lawsuits also add to the tally of the allegations against some of the most notorious abusers like this debunk priest stephen kisle. I was too catched to the kids and letting my affection for them take a wrong turn. You mean sexually . Yes. Since 2020 alone, he has been named in more than 60 separate lawsuits. I was like the pied piper. Do you have any idea of the number of children you did the touchyfeeley with, as you described it earlier . There were quite a few. After a 1978 conviction for tying up and mo lowest ing molesting two boys and he came back the following year. The oakland archdiocese didnt monitor you much . Right. In 2022, he was one of dozens of california priests to be arrested over new allegations. California had passed a law in 1993 allowing prosecutors to charge alleged child predators within a year of their victims going to police. It allowed priests like kiesle to be rised decades after their alleged crime, but just like after he and others got arrested, the u. S. Supreme court ruled californias 1993 law couldnt be applied retroactively. Priests in the 70s and 80s criminally charged were allowed to have all their charges dismissed and to walk free. Most of the charges against keisle were dismissed, but he pled no contest to a 1995 of molestation case. Can you comment on the new sexual abuse lawsuits . No, i cant. Some say you escaped criminal liability because of the statute of limitations ran out, anything to say about that . No. For the past four years, we have asked to speak with bishops across Northern California, from San Francisco to the oakland bishop, michael barber, they have all refused time and time again. In a statement, the archdiocese of San Francisco told us, theyll handle the allegations through the legal process. The archdiocese treats every accusation of sexual abuse seriously. In a recent video released by the archdiocese, the church was defended. Occurrence of abuse within the Catholic Church are very rare today given the educational and preventative measures now in place. In oakland, bishop barber issued a statement saying most of the abuse allegations are decades old and the diocese has put in place robust safeguards to protect children. Will donahue is a religious advocate for the church. There are some lawyers that have a financial and idea logical idea of damaging the Catholic Church. The who review board system set up by the Catholic Church is a farce, it doesnt work. When we return, a former priest comes forward saying the church still hasnt come clean. Tim stier i was ordained in 1979. I served in five parishes in the diocese of oakland. I was ordained in 1979. I served in five parish and the diocese of oakland. The event that really made me think about, i dont know if i can do this anymore, was daming evan coming to visit me on a friday morning. I grew up in fremont, and i was a devout altar boy, and thats what exposed me to this priest father clark, and he would do things you dont really want to put on television. He was a predator. Can you imagine the nerve that took . Can you imagine going back to the scene of the crime . Were you expecting him at your door . No. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, and it was extremely painful, and i havent been the same since. I wanted him to actually meet the human being making these allegations, so that he had to deal with you know w me and my complicated life. I couldnt in good conscience be a priest anymore unless he was willing to publicly dialogue on the abuse crisis, the unequal status of women and the medieval approach to giveaway and lesbian human morality, and he said, tim, i dont think we have a problem. If you ask critics like dan mcnevin and former oakland priest, they will tell you they believe the church is still hiding the sins of its priests. After the boston scandal, the church has reformed, but what our investigation found raises questions about how far those reforms actually going . In 2018, Catholic Diocese across california started publishing lists of clergy who were incredibly accused of abusing kids. Today, the diocese released 23 new names. We have gone through all the lists, and we have not found one that is complete even from the past. The Biggest Issue for the victim advocates, the die cyst dont add every accused priests but they use hand picked internal review boards to decide if an accusation is credible or not and only the credible reess make their list. A qualified investigator does an investigation and they submit it to a psychologist, two physicians and a retired police officer. Its a whitewash process. It isnt complete. Heres one example pointed out by victim advocates. When the boston clergy scandal broke in 2022, danielle sued the archdiocese of San Francisco allegedlying he was inappropriately fondle bid a priest named Daniel Carter in the late 70s. He was at our hour having a late dinner, and i was wearing my pajamas, and he took his hand and put it up my shirt and down my pajama pants. In 2023, the Church Review Board determined the allegations were unfounded, and father carter was back to work and still working when the new wave of lawsuits hit. And now six more people have come forward with allegations. Right. Six new people are accusing carter in pending lawsuits of abusing them between the 1970s and 2000. Some believe that shows the review board got it wrong when lacamapagne came forward. That is the most shameful for the archdiocese of San Francisco. Hi, father carter father car 10 didnt want to talk to us when we got him on the phone and neither did the archdiocese. But carters name no longer appears on the archdiocese list of priests currently in good standing, but critics say the problem with the San Francisco archdiocese go far beyond father carter because the archdiocese is the only bishop in california still refusing to even publish a list of suspected abusers. He has to join the 21st century. There are thousands and thousands of victims. Hes a good man. He knows a game is being played and no other institution is asked to list their accused priests. Stop look at me and start defending your priests. We took a closer look the lists the other bishops released and found question how complete they are. Take oaklands list of 65 names published by the diocese in 2019. At the time, chancellor steve wilcox says they keep adding to it. When someone is accused, they will be added to the list. Since then, the diocese has not added a single name since then. A hundred different clerics are accused in the lawsuits, but more than two thirds of them dont show up on oaklands list like father john garcia, who died in 2023. Four separate people now say they were abused by the priest. If me coming forward and using my name or my face can help somebody, thats what the whole objective is. This isnt a matter of a few bad apples or a few bad priests with sexual disobedience, this is a systemic structural problem. This is forcing the transparency that the church wont provide. This is why dan mcnevin and the survivors abused by priests have been making their own list. Its taken more than a decade. I get gratification from filling in the puzzles. Snaps list of accused oakland clerics is four times longer than diocese list. We have hundreds of priests here who have molested kids. And the while the archdiocese of San Francisco hasnt released a list, snaps San Francisco list has more than 400 names. I this city bishops have an obligation to sideline these people. One of those priests, dr. Diorso saying he was accused of molesting boys in san rafael. He never abused anybody. Those are words written on a piece of paper trying to wring settlement money from the Catholic Church. You go to a mass in the church. And there is monsignor harriman accused of abusing kids in a sonoma camp in the 1980s. We couldnt reach him by phone, but we contacted him at his bay area home. Are you aware of these claims . Yes, i am, and theres been an investigation and ive been proven innocent. When monsignor harriman says hes innocent in the church internal review process we were talking about and in the statement, they were returned to ministry after its own reviews did not sustain the allegations. The Church Called the men faithful and highly respected pastor. Despite the fact the independent review board found the accusations sustained, they are amplifying the details of the allegations. Should priests with active allegations against them be allowed to still work . Well, they should be allowed to work but not with children. What about the concern of a priest being accused and his name being out there and it ruining his life . That concern is a valid concern, and it is far outweighed by the number of denials by priests who were later shown to have committed these kinds of terrible acts. Because of the horrendous things theyve done to me, i feel Like Fighting back somehow. I feel like im going to probably for the rest of my life be a warrior for myself and for other people. Joey piscateli is a survivor and a fierce advocate. He and others are taking their fight to the churchs doorstep, but they cant force change by themselves. They need Law Enforcement to prosecute alleged predators and subpoena church records. In 1969, i entered high school, and i was a redundant. I weighed probably maybe 70 pounds. Almost immediately, i was befriend bid the vice principal wheelan. I was not groomed. It was always violent. I was molested countless times. I went to a pretrial conference. Their head lawyer said to the judge mr. Piscatelli doesnt have a shred of evidence. And the judge said he is the evidence. The jury will believe him or not, but he is the evidence. Did the jury believe you . The jury believed me. Advocates with snap say if local diocese wont come clean about abuse, they will force them to by publishing their own list of accused priests. Snap started with the archdiocese of San Francisco and tried to deliver their list of suspected abusers to archdiocese salvatore corteloni but met by attorney Peter Marleau at the gate. You can ask the media outlet. That same spokesperson later told us that publishing a list would be unjust for those who have been falsely accused and many claims fall into that category. Theyre protecting and shielding predators, not kids and victims and survivors. Were here today to unveil snaps list. Snap went to the Oakland Diocese next depending bishop barber expand his list of accused priest. He believes in transparency and accountability, but we never see him in events like this. They tried delivering their list to bishop barber, but the front door was locked. Thats when an unmarked black car pulled up. Will you take this to bishop barber for us . Yes. Anything else. Give him this from us. We break into the program with this latest on the Tornado Warning, still has a few more minutes before it may expire affecting parts of spwaeb San Benito County and the storms are moving at 40 miles per hour. It has shown signs of weakening in the last 15 minutes or so, but there is the red box area with the Tornado Warning still active for a few minutes from hollister eastward, but the potential ongoing for more thunderstorms as we head into tonight and with small hail and the potential of briefly Severe Weather and strong wind gusts. Well keep monitoring the latest on these storms as we head into tonight, which also involve a chance of low snow levels, as well as, something well track on nbc bay area so well give you an update on the newscast with the latest on Severe Weather around the bay area. The bishops say abuse is mostly at issue of the past, but there have been recent incidents, like with oakland priest hector David Mendoza sentenced to nearly five years in prison in 2019 after pleading no contest to inappropriately touching a 14yearold boy between 2016 and 2017 and father castillo, they informed castillo he was abused of sexual abusing one minor and placing him on leave. And the early the next morning, the diocese announced the suspension of castillo, but as we confirmed with police, another five hours went by before the diocese notified officers about the allegations. Before police were able to track done the police and question him, he had left the country. No, i dont think they handled it at all. Oakland in my book gets an f. Castillo was never indicted or charged with a crime, and bishop barber never revealed the findings of the diocese. And the diocese wont tell us why hes not on the accused list. He denied the allegations in a letter he wrote to other priests. Havefully of any of you had anything like this in your church . This conversation . No. We interviewed a group of everyday catholics to see how the scandal is affecting their faith, and they say its taking a toll, and the Church Officials havent been open with them. Youre catholic, and youre thinking what the person looking back at you is thinking about you. Or, how can you continue to participate in your catholic faith when you know these things have happened. Does anyone here feel its overblown in some sense . Initially, i did. But theres been too much evidence of stuff going on that isnt good, so ive come to accept its happening and real and really not overblown. Thats part of the reason why thousands of alleged victims are now coming forward. Theyre more likely to be believed. These are all of the people who agreed to share their stories with us over the years. Now that they have spoken out, they hope it will finally make a difference. I have to take my stand against him and against them and make it known to everybody that what happened was just wrong. The tough part of talking to survivors who have suffered, thats the tough part. Why . Because it triggers me. Back when i was hurt, it is not done. This story is still unfolding. We are tracking multiple Catholic Diocese that have filed for bankruptcy to figure out what that means of survivors and transparency moving forward. Our investigation also continues online where you can watch more of our reporting and look up how this scandal might be impacting your community. Im candace wynn, and on behalf of the entire investigative unit, thanks for watching nbc bay area where we investigate. What do i see in peter dixon . I see my husband. The father of our girls. I see a public servant. A man who served under secretary clinton in the state department. Where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. I see a fighter, a tenacious problemsolver. Who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. Because he sees a Better Future for all of us. Im peter dixon and i approved this message. Right now on access hollywood, weve got raw revelations from j. Lo and ben on life together and apart and pedro pascal clearly having one of the best nights of his life at the sag awards. Plus why is adam sandler uncomfortable at his own premiere . From Universal Studios hollywood, access hollywood starts right now. [theme music]