Father Jose Antonio Pinal
Diocese of Sacramento
Ordained: 1980
Removed: 1989
Assignment History:
- 1980-1986: Sacred Heart (Gridley, CA) and Our Lady of Lourdes (Colusa, CA)
- 1986-1989: St. Anthony (Winters, CA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Jose Antonio Pinal:
Fr. Jose Antonio Pinal was accused in the late 1980s of having sexually abused a 14-year-old boy in 1983-1984 while serving at Sacred Heart in Gridley, California. He was placed on a leave of absence and had his faculties removed in 1989. Pinal then fled to Mexico to the Diocese of Cuernavaca. In 1991, Pinal admitted the abuse in a letter written to a Bishop in the Diocese of Sacramento.
According to media reports, in 2003, Pinal was charged with two counts of sodomy under a new CA law that would have allowed prosecution of cases beyond the statute of limitations. The charges were dropped when the US Supreme Court ruled against the new law. Since 2003, the Diocese of Sacramento has made repeated attempts to convince Church leaders in Mexico to bar Pinal from ministry, which he is thought to be still serving.
According to The Sacramento Bee, Pinal would bring altar boys into the priest’s quarters at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, gave them alcohol, showed them movies with sex and nudity, and groped and raped them.
Thirty years later, in the spring of 2019, the Diocese of Sacramento put Pinal’s name on its list of credibly accused priests. The list had five allegations of sexual abuse against Pinal dating back to the late 1980s, including allegations of abuse in 2016 to a young girl.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Sacramento 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 Sacramento now have legal options due to a temporary change in the law, 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.