Ordination: 1948

Notes: Fr. Joseph T. Pritchard worked in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Diocese of San Jose. He has been accused of sexually abusing at least 20 children, including his own nephew. In 2003, Fr. 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. Several victims allege the abuse occurred in the Fr. Pritchard’s living quarters in approximately the 1970s while Fr. Pritchard was serving at St. Martin’s. The Diocese of San Jose acknowledged that Fr. Pritchard engaged in sexual misconduct with children while at St. Martin’s in the 1970s. Since 2002, at least twenty civil lawsuits have been filed alleging that Fr. Pritchard sexually abused minors. The Archdiocese of San Francisco settled the vast majority of these lawsuits. The Diocese of San Jose included Fr. Pritchard on its list of clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse of children.

Assignments:

1948-1953 St. Brendan’s, San Francisco, CA (SFR)

1949-1953 Diocesan Commission on Church Music

1953-1956 Bishop O’Dowd High School, Oakland, CA (SFR)

1956-1970 Serra High School for Boys, San Mateo, CA (SFR)

1970-1971 St. Cyprian’s, Sunnyvale, CA (SFR)

1971-1979 St. Martin’s, San Jose, CA (SFR)

1979-1988 St. Nicholas, Los Altos, CA (1979-1980 SFR; 1981-1988 SJ)

1979-1988 Residential Park for the Aged, Seven Oaks, CA

1986-1988 Special Assistance Ministry Board Chairman

1988 Died