Father Daniel Carter
Archdiocese of San Francisco
Ordained: 1979
Assignment History:
- Notre Dame Des Victoires (San Francisco, CA)
- 1979-1989: All Hallows (San Francisco, CA)
- 1989-1995: Our Lady of the Pillar (Half Moon Bay, CA)
- 1989-1995: St. Anthony’s (Pescadero, CA)
- 1989-1990: Our Lady of Lourdes (Moss Beach, CA)
- 1989-1995: Our Lady of Refuge (La Honda, CA)
- 1994-1995: Mission Dolores (San Francisco, CA)
- 1995-2001: St. James (San Francisco, CA)
- 1996-2002: Youth Guidance Center (San Francisco, CA)
- 2001- August 2002: Immaculate Heart of Mary (Belmont, CA)
- 2002-2003: Administrative leave
- April 2003 – August 2003: Immaculate Heart of Mary
- 2003-2005: St. Kevin’s (San Francisco, CA)
- 2005-2011: Our Lady of Lourdes (San Francisco, CA)
- 2005-2011: All Hallows Chapel (San Francisco, CA)
- Undated: St. Paul of the Shipwreck Parish (San Francisco, CA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Daniel E. Carter:
According to media reports, in 2002, Daniel E. Carter was accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl in the late 1970s when she was a student at Notre Dame des Victoires Elementary School in San Francisco, California. He was accused of fondling her as a child while he was at her family home for dinner. According to media reports, at the time of the abuse, Carter was not yet ordained. The alleged abuse occurred when he was a Marist Brother working at a Marist order parish and school with a ministry to French Catholics. He reportedly had a reputation as being boisterous, charismatic, and strict and had a big presence in the school.
In April 2002, this alleged victim reported her abuse directly to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Later that month, she filed a police report accusing Carter of molesting her as a child. Soon after that, she filed a lawsuit. After the lawsuit, was filed, Carter was placed on leave by the Archdiocese in August 2002 by Archbishop Levada. The lawsuit was ultimately settled without an admission of guilt.
After a period of months on administrative leave, Carter was reinstated in March 2003 despite the pending lawsuit since the archdiocesan review board deemed the case “inconclusive”. Carter was returned to the active ministry by Bishop Levada and Carter continued to work as a priest over the next two decades. in 2023, six new alleged victims of abuse by Carter, both men and women, came forward to report their abuse by Carter and file civil lawsuits made possible by the 2019 Child Victims Act in California. The alleged abuse in these six cases span decades, from the 1970’s through 2000. One of the new lawsuits alleges Father Carter repeatedly fondled an eight-year-old girl attending All Hallows School in San Francisco in 1981. A second plaintiff alleges the priest did similar things to her around the same time. The abuse described in those cases closely mirrors the original accuser.
Archbishop Levada was promoted to Cardinal in 2013. Cardinal Levada died in 2019.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of San Francisco in California. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in one of California’s Catholic dioceses, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of San Francisco now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in California and nationwide. We can help..
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.