Father James Ganahl
Diocese of San Diego
Ordained: 1956
Retired: 1987
Privileges removed: 1988
Died: 2010
Assigned as Follows:
- 1956-1958: St. Vincent de Paul (San Diego, CA)
- 1958-1959: St. Charles Borromeo (San Diego, CA)
- 1958-1964: San Diego College for Men (San Diego, CA)
- 1964-1967: Immaculate Heart Seminary (San Diego, CA)
- 1967-1973: San Gorgonio (Beaumont, CA)
- 1973-1981: St. Joan of Arc (Victorville, CA)
- 1981-1987: St. Catherine’s (Temecula, CA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father James Ganahl:
Father James Ganahl was ordained a priest in 1956, who served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of San Diego. According to media reports, he was accused of abusing four sisters from 1961 to 1963 in San Bernardino. The sisters alleged that he fondled, kissed them inappropriately, and repeatedly sexually touched them for a period of two years when they lived in Mission Hills. In 1999, they told the Diocese of San Bernardino. The Diocese of San Diego reported the incident to police in 2002, but the family chose not to pursue criminal charges. A financial settlement was ultimately reached.
Father Ganahl has been named in at least one civil lawsuit. He retired in 1987, and was removed from ministry in November 1998. In March 2007, his name was included in the Diocese of San Diego’s list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.
He died in February 2010. In October 2010, as part of a settlement with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the Diocese of San Diego released his personnel file.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of San Diego 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 San Diego 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.