Father Mark Kristy
Diocese of Santa Rosa/Sacramento (Carmelite)
Ordained: 1985
Removed: 2015
Assignment History:
- 1985: St. Therese Church (Alhambra, CA)
- Cathedral of St. Eugene (Santa Rosa, CA)
- Oakville Carmelite House of Prayer (Oakville, CA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Mark Kristy:
Father Mark Kristy was ordained a priest in 1985 and served with the religious order Discalced Carmelite Fathers in the Diocese of Sacramento and the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Kristy worked in parishes across Tucson, Arizona, and the Los Angeles Archdiocese before relocating to Oakville in Napa County. Kristy was accused of improper conduct with a girl at her Sacramento-area home in which he was arrested, convicted, jailed for six months, and sentenced to five years of probation that he's now serving in St. Helena.
According to media reports, in 2022, Kristy was convicted of child sexual molestation. Kristy pleaded no contest to one felony count of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child younger than 14. He was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation. Reports say that diocesan authorities were informed of the allegations against Kristy in 2015, and he was restricted from the ministry. Allegations claimed that Kristy engaged in sexual contact and exposure with a 10-year-old girl from 2001 to 2004.
A legal filing contends Kristy abused a daughter of congregants from a church near their Rocklin residence, where he occasionally assisted. Kristy gradually became a regular visitor at the family's house, eventually engaging in overnight stays with the girl and her younger sister in the living room or a tent set up in the backyard - the settings of the stated abuse. Notes report that the child's father saw the priest and his daughter in the same sleeping bag before ordering them out. In December 2015, the girl's father presented these claims to the church, with Kristy being informed of the allegations within a week.
After receiving allegations in 2015, the diocese reported the matter to law enforcement and cooperated with Placer County authorities in their response, which ultimately resulted in the perpetrator's prosecution. On February 16, 2022, Kristy admitted guilt to a serious charge of performing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 for incidents in September 2004. By June 21, courts moved his child sex abuse case to Napa County, where he currently complies with his probation conditions.
Kristy's name was added to a Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa's list of clergy members accused of sexual abuse, almost ten years after the initial report was made. Officials claim that they were giving the Carmelites jurisdiction in the matter. According to the Cathedral of St. Eugene, Father Mark Kristy O.C.D. is reportedly living in the Diocese of Santa Rosa without his Superior's permission or approval.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Santa Rosa 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 Diocese of Santa Rosa now have legal options due to a voluntary compensation fund created by the Diocese of Santa Rosa, 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.