Letter to the Diocese of Oakland re J. Roger Lucey

Dear Bishop Barber and Chancellor Wilcox:

A priest who resided and worked in the Oakland Diocese for at least sixteen years was added to the list of clergy with “substantiated allegation of child sexual abuse” by the Diocese of LaCrosse in Wisconsin earlier this week. He was previously named, in December of 2018, as  a cleric  with “established allegations of sexually abusing a minor” by the Jesuits Midwest Province. 

We note that Fr. J. Roger Lucey has yet to appear on your list of “credibly accused” priests. We are writing to ensure that you are aware of these two reports so that you can update your names of accused priests accordingly.

According to the Jesuits, Fr. Lucey’s assignment history in the East Bay is as follows:

• Sabbatical in Berkeley -- 1984-1985
• Anne’s in Union City – 1985 to 1986
• Perpetua’s in Lafayette – 1986 to 1991
• O’Keefe House in Berkeley – 1991-1991
• Christ the King in Walnut Creek – 1991 to 1994
• Santa Maria in Orinda – 1994 to 1999, 2000

The priest came to the Oakland Diocese after assignments in the Midwest. Thanks to the Jesuits and the recent news out of LaCrosse we now suspect that Fr. Lucey may have left the region because he was caught abusing children, and we fear that he may have also abused children in your diocese. We know from the Jesuit list that that Fr. Lucey has been accused of abuse in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is likely that there could be survivors of Fr. Lucey in the East Bay. Now that this information about the cleric has been released by yet another church entity, we ask Bishop Barber to do the following:

• Add his name, headshot, and other details to your own list of accused clergy,
• Publish his abuse history in all diocesan and church bulletins, and
• Personally visit each parish and community in which he worked and urge victims and witnesses to come forward and make a report to law enforcement, helping to ensure that any crimes he may have committed in the Oakland Diocese will be made public so any other victims will know they are not alone.
• As a member of the Jesuit community, reach out to your brethren for access to their “secret files” on Fr. Lucey, and publicize the contents among the affected East Bay communities.

SNAP facilitates a monthly victims’ support group in Walnut Creek. We can assist you in publicizing all of this information and can inboard any survivors into our support network so that they can have a safe place to heal and can also find comfort from meeting others who have had similar experiences.

Respectfully,

Melanie Sakoda

San Francisco Bay Area Leader

Dan McNevin

SNAP Oakland Leader

Joey Piscitelli

SNAP Northern California Leader

Zach Hiner

SNAP Executive Director