Father Joseph Pritchard
Archdiocese of San Francisco/Diocese of San Jose
Ordained: 1948
Died: 1988
Assignment History:
- 1948-1953 St. Brendan’s (San Francisco, CA)
- 1949-1953: Diocesan Commission on Church Music
- 1953-1956: Bishop O’Dowd High School (Oakland, CA)
- 1956-1970: Serra High School for Boys (San Mateo, CA)
- 1970-1971: St. Cyprian’s (Sunnyvale, CA)
- 1971-1979: St. Martin’s (San Jose, CA)
- 1979-1988: St. Nicholas (Los Altos, CA)
- 1979-1988: Residential Park for the Aged (Seven Oaks, CA)
- 1986-1988: Special Assistance Ministry Board Chairman
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Joseph Pritchard:
Fr. Joseph T. Pritchard was accused of sexually abusing at least 20 children, including his nephew. According to media reports, in 2003, Pritchard’s nephew reported that he had been sexually abused as a child by his uncle and that his mother reported the abuse to church officials in 1959, but nothing was ever done. Several victims allege the abuse occurred in Pritchard’s living quarters in the 1970s while he served at St. Martin’s in San Jose, California.
According to media reports, since 2002, at least twenty-three civil lawsuits have been filed alleging that Pritchard sexually abused minors. According to court records, files showed that Pritchard admitted that he abused a 14-year-old in 1973. The Archdiocese of San Francisco settled the vast majority of these lawsuits in a $21.2 million settlement.
He was listed on the Oakland Diocese’s 2019 list of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
Pritchard died in 1988.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of San Francisco 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 Archdiocese of San Francisco now have legal options due to a voluntary compensation fund created by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, 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.