St. Anthony's Seminary Santa Barbara 1964 to 1987: Independent board of inquiry finds that a quarter of the Franciscan friars on the faculty of the minor seminary abused students

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

1. The board found eleven friars who abused minors in the school years 1964/65 to 1986/87, a quarter of the friars on the faculty; a twelfth was suspected of grooming. 34 students were identified as victims; one offender had seven and another 18 known victims. The acts ranged from touching to oral sex and anal penetration; offenders abused students at night in the dormitory, in their offices, on trips and when they were ill, and two used threats to silence them. One friar photographed children naked, and hundreds of such photographs were taken in the seminary and on its grounds.
   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 20

   „The Board identified eleven friars who perpetrated sexual abuse on minors“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 20

   „One-fourth (11) of the“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 20

   „there was in any given year, at least one“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 21

   „one friar had seven known victims of sexual“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 21

   „and one friar had eighteen known victims of sexual“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 22

   „four friars abused students who were physically ill; two friars“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 22

   „used threats to ensure victims’ silence“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 27

   „Hundreds of nude photographs were taken in the seminary and on the“

How were they charged and sentenced?

1. The school was a minor seminary of the Franciscan Province of St. Barbara and closed in 1987 for financial reasons. In 1989 a former student reported that a friar had molested him on numerous occasions over two years; in 1992 his younger brother reported abuse by a second friar, the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Boys' Choir. The board of inquiry was convened in January 1993; its six members were chosen jointly by the parents' community and the province. It had no subpoena power or power to compel testimony under oath; no accused friar spoke to it.
   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Background, S. 1

   „was a minor seminary operated by the Province of St. Barbara of the Order of“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Background, S. 1

   „closed in 1987 for financial reasons“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Background, S. 1

   „In 1989 a former St. Anthony’s student reported that over a two-year“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Background, S. 1

   „director of the Santa Barbara Boys’ Choir, had sexually molested him on“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Background, S. 2

   „The Independent Board of Inquiry was convened in January 1993.“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Background, S. 2

   „consisted of six members who were chosen jointly by the Greater Community and“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Findings, S. 19

   „adjudicative body with the fact-finding apparatus thereof“

What happened to those affected?

1. According to the report several former students had attempted suicide, and one was planning his suicide when the board's letter reached him. Alcohol and drug abuse was prevalent among the victims. Parents felt guilty and betrayed by people they had trusted completely with their children; many asked how other friars could not have known at the time.
   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Effect on Victims, S. 36

   „A number of the former students have a history of suicide attempts.“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Effect on Victims, S. 36

   „A history of alcohol and drug abuse was prevalent among the victims.“

   Evidence: Geoffrey B. Stearns, Kathleen Baggarley-Mar, Keith Mar, Eugene Merlin, Dismas Bonner, Ray Higgins, im Auftrag der Franziskanerprovinz St. Barbara, Observations, S. 43

   „Many people wonder how other friars“