Rev. Patrick J. O'Shea-Assignment

Msgr. Patrick J. O'Shea

Summary of Case: O'Shea was a prominent figure in the San Francisco archdiocese. In January 1995 he was criminally charged for the sexual abuse of at least nine boys in the 1960s and 1970s, some as young as age nine. More men came forward in subsequent years. O'Shea was the subject of multiple lawsuits and settlements. The criminal charges were dropped and refiled, then dropped again, due to statutes of limitation. Much of the abuse is reported to have taken place at O'Shea's trailer at Lake Berryessa, where he would take the boys waterskiing, then ply them with alcohol. He was laicized in 1994. In 2004 O'Shea was convicted of grand theft and tax fraud and put on probation.

Ordained: 1958
Laicized: 1994

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1958 San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961), followed by Joseph Thomas McGucken (1962-1977)	1969	Mission Dolores Basilica	San Francisco • Accused in a 1994 lawsuit of fondling a boy on a camping trip in 1969. (San Francisco Chronicle January 24, 1995) • A man reported in 2002 that he had been sexually abused by O'Shea beginning in 1968, when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and student at Mission Dolores. (San Francisco Chronicle March 29, 2003)	CA	4/5, 3/4, 2/5, 2/4	Parish had a school with 377-342 boys.
1969	1970	On duty outside the diocese.				Although the 1970 Directory indicates he was in the Stockton diocese, he is not listed there in the Stockton diocesan pages.
1970 McGucken was replaced as archbishop by John Raphael Quinn (1977-1995)	1978	Most Holy Redeemer	San Francisco • Two men came forward in 2003 to report that O'Shea molested them at Lake Berryessa in the 1970s, when they were 11-13 years old. (San Francisco Chronicle March 29, 2003)	CA	3/3, 4/4 In residence.	Parish had a school with 274-192 students.O'Shea is referred to as "Monsignor" beginning with the 1972 Directory.
1970	1994	Holy Childhood Pontifical Association	San Francisco	CA	Director	CA
1972	1982	Assistant Director for Vocations	San Francisco
1971 1985	1982 1994	San Francisco Society for the Propogation of the Faith	San Francisco	CA	Director
1989	1992	Serra Club of West San Francisco Area (Golden Gate)	San Francisco	CA
1978	1990	Holy Name of Jesus	San Francisco	CA	1/4, 1/5, 1/6	Parish has a school with 640-493 students.
1990	1994	St. Cecilia	San Francisco • Placed on administrative leave in March 1994 due to allegations of sexual abuse of boys. (San Francisco Chronicle May 24, 1994) hen abused.	CA	1/6, 1/5	Parish had a school with 590-567 students.
1994	1995					O'Shea is not indexed in the 1995 Directory.
1995 William Joseph Levada replaced Quinn as archbishop (1995-2005)	2003	Absent on Leave	• Arrested in January 1995 for having molested nine boys between January 1964 and August 1980. The abuse is said to have taken place in San Francisco, Napa, Placer and Riverside counties, and mostly at O'Shea's trailer at Lake Berryessa. One man alleged he was abused as a boy on a trip to Rome with O'Shea, where the two met the pope. O'Shea would typically ply the boys with alcohol. Most victims were altar boys, some as young as nine years old when abused. (San Francisco Chronicle January 24, 1995) O'Shea was subsequently defrocked. The charges were dismissed in July 1995 and refiled in 1998 but the case couldn't go to trial until a change in CA in 1999 extended the statute of limitations. (San Francisco Chronicle June 16, 2000) The case was again dismissed in 2002, due to a judge's ruling that prosecutors waited too long to file. (San Francisco Chronicle March 15, 2002) • Charged in 1996 with embezzling over $260,000 from parishioners and from the archdiocese. (San Francisco Chronicle June 6, 1996) • Two more men came forward in 2003 with allegations that they had been sexually abused by O'Shea in the 1970s, when they were ages 11-13. Another man had come forward in 2002. (San Francisco Chronicle March 29, 2003)			The 2003 Directory is the last in which O'Shea's name appears. O'Shea was sentenced to four years in jail in Feb. 2004 for grand theft and tax fraud charges. He was given four years credit for years already served in jail while he had been awaiting trial on molestation charges. Those charges were ultimately dropped due to statutes of limation. He was released and put on parole. (San Francisco Chronicle February 3, 2004)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1959-2003).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy & Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.