A few weeks ago, we wrote about the ‘very troubling case’ of a Fresno diocesan abuser, Fr. Eric Swearingen. As one might expect, Fr. Swearingen has ample company. Several worrisome Fresno clerics face or have faced charges (criminal, civil, or both) of hurting kids. Here’s another one: Fr. Louis Aloysius Garcia.
- In 1988, he was listed as ‘on sick leave’ in the Official Catholic Directory.
- In 2021, he was listed among the ‘credibly accused’ clerics on the Fresno diocesan website.
- A decade earlier, he was listed on another site: on the California state sex offender registry.
Why? Because he abused several young and developmentally disabled patients. That’s according to a Superior Court jury which found him guilty of rape, two counts of sodomy, oral copulation, attempted sodomy, and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child. The judge, in that case, sentenced Fr. Garcia to six years behind bars for his crimes.
While ALL abuse – perpetrated against ANY child – is heinous, we at Horowitz Law can’t help but be especially when the victims are particularly, as developmentally delayed or disabled girls and boys virtually always are. Questions surround Fr. Garcia even now. It’s unclear whether or not he ever faced civil lawsuits. Unfortunately, however, for unknown reasons, Fr. Garcia is not on California’s registry now. The Fresno diocese says it does not know his whereabouts.
Despite his criminal conviction, after a jury trial and verdict, Fresno Bishop John Brennan deceptively describes Fr. Garcia’s status as ‘unknown’ on the official diocesan website. So he could volunteer as a coach, tutor, teacher, or counselor in a kids’ sports league, at a library, in a school, or at a non-profit. If you know where Fr. Garcia might be now, please contact us.
Fr. Garcia lived or worked in the following California communities (in roughly this chronological order): Reedley, Selma, Sanger, Fresno, Goshen, Bakersfield, and Porterville. But it’s worth noting that Fr. Garcia also had four non-parish assignments. Three were hospital chaplaincies: Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield, St. Agnes’ Hospital in Fresno, and Porterville State Hospital in Porterville.
One was a chaplaincy in the Air Force, though the Official Catholic Directory makes no mention of where he actually worked. This is noteworthy because, over the years, many proven, admitted, and credibly accused child molesting clerics have been sent to workplaces like these, so a bishop or other church official can try to reassure or mollify angry parents, distraught churchgoers, or concerned victims “Well, I’ve moved him out of a parish and I won’t ever put him in another parish.”
Here are two good sources of information about the Fresno diocese and its abusive clerics:
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/california/diocese-of-fresno/
- https://www.bishop-accountability.org/dioceses/usa-ca-fresno/
- https://30560.sites.ecatholic.com/list-of-credibly-acussed
And just in case you’re wondering “Has Bishop Brennan really come clean about ALL of the abusers who are or were in his diocese. . . a ten-minute search on Google turned up these two:
- Fr. Orlando Battagliola from Argentina. He was in the Fresno area in the 1960s, was sued for abusing a child in the early 1970s, and was murdered in San Francisco in 1977. But his name appears nowhere on the Fresno diocesan website.
- Fr. Gaspar Bautista (originally from the Tulancingo diocese in Huejutla, Mexico) worked in the Fresno diocese as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in California City. But he wasn’t and isn’t on the Fresno ‘accused’ list.
In 2016, he was put on leave because of “allegations of inappropriate behavior with a minor” when he was assigned to the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The accusations, however, were not made public until 2018. That year, Fr. Garcia was put on the Los Angeles archdiocese’s ‘credibly accused’ list.
But later, archdiocesan officials said that the Vatican officials deemed the allegations against him “not proven.” According to BishopAccountability.org, “Per the Los Angeles archdiocese’s 2021 accused list, the Fresno diocese expected to restore Fr. Bautista’s faculties. You might wonder ‘How do the heads of Catholic dioceses, colleges, and other church institutions justify leaving predators off their ‘accused’ lists?”
Well, take a look at a subtle but essential caveat Fresno’s bishop uses: He includes on his list ONLY those men ‘who were ordained or incardinated for’ the Fresno Diocese. That means he can keep hidden the names of abusive priests, brothers, seminarians, monks, and bishops who are or were in Fresno but officially began in or belonged to another diocese.)
Ways You Can Help Hone in on California Predator Priests
What can we do to get more information about Fr. Garcia and other Fresno predators? How can we warn and protect others from him and his colleagues? Help us spread the word. Post and share this blog on social media. Forward it via text and email to your friends and family. Urge them to contact any of their acquaintances or loved ones who were or are in the Fresno area. And make sure that every time the topic comes up in conversation, tell people that Catholic priests still molest kids and Catholic bishops still hide the predators. It may not seem like much. But maybe, just maybe, it could spare one child a world of pain.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by religious authority figures and numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists. If you need a lawyer because a member of a religious organization, doctor, professional, or therapist sexually abused you, contact us today at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.