New Trial in California Priest Molestation Upheld

An appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that there should be a new civil trial for a man who claims he was molested by a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno.

The Fresno Bee reports that the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles on Friday upheld a ruling by a Fresno County Superior Court judge for the new trial.

The appeals court’s decision comes after a Fresno County jury determined in 2009 that Monsignor Anthony Herdegen had molested Howard Santillan and his older brother, George Santillan, from 1959 to 1972 while Herdegen was a priest at St. John’s Catholic Church in Wasco.

But jurors also found that church officials were not aware of the molestations, so the diocese wasn’t liable for the conduct of the priest.

A judge later granted a new trial for Howard Santillan based on new evidence.