Fr. Vito Mistretta – Diocese of Sacramento

| Jun 13, 2020 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father Vito Mistretta

Diocese of Sacramento

Ordained: 1942

Retired: 1990

Dead: 2009

Assignment History:

  • 1942-1946: Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (Sacramento, CA)
  • 1946-1949: Saint Rose Parish (Roseville, CA)
  • 1949-1990: Holy Family (Citrus Heights, CA)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Vito Mistretta:

Fr. Vito Mistretta was initially listed in 2019 on the official Diocese of Sacramento’s credibly accused clerics list for at least two alleged crimes. He reportedly abused a boy under 18 in 1969. A second separate abuse allegation was made to church officials in 2018, both occurring at Holy Family Catholic Church in Citrus Heights, California where Mistretta worked for 41 years.

When Mistretta retired in 1990, he moved to his own home within blocks of his church and celebrated mass “until the bishop asked him to discontinue” this practice. (No reason has been given for this unusual decision). The Diocese of Sacramento publicly disclosed that it first received credible allegations of sexual abuse against Mistretta in 1993. The diocese executed a confidential settlement with one of the Mistretta’s victims in 2001. The Diocese of Sacramento list has now been updated to reflect that there are four known male victims of Mistretta.

Mistretta died in 2009 at Sutter Roseville Medical Center in California at the age of 92.

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