A Catholic order in California that was meant to educate and protect vulnerable children fostered an environment that allowed decades of sexual abuse to occur, some former students have alleged.

On the Salesians of Don Bosco’s website, the order’s mission statement reads: “Our mission is to evangelize and educate young people, especially those who are poor and at risk, in the style of Don Bosco.”

But some children who attended a Salesians of Don Bosco school in Richmond, Calif. say they were subjected to sexual abuse that was covered up for decades. The priests and brothers covered for each other so that they could perpetuate the abuse of the children they were meant to look after, according to a CNN report.

CNN conducted a year-long investigation into the Salesian’s of Don Bosco, finding that the cover-up went so far as to pressure, and even threaten, victims into keeping quiet and not reporting the abuse. The cover-up, CNN said, dated to more than a half-century earlier, and protected the accused pedophile priests rather than the young people they allegedly abused.

“On multiple occasions Salesian leaders withheld cases of abuse from the authorities and even from other parts of the Catholic Church,” CNN reported.

Alleged victim, George Stein, of Seattle, began studying at Don Bosco College (later known as Salesian High School) in 1958, when he was 13. There, he met Brother Bernard Dabbene. Stein says that when he was 15, Dabbene told him to meet him at a designated location inside the school and wait to be assigned a chore.

“When I got there, I felt it was a little strange because there was no one there and there were probably no duties to be performed,” Stein told CNN. “He came after a while…and he basically hugged me and kissed me, and that was inappropriate, and I wasn’t expecting it at all.”

Stein said he reported the incident to Father Alfred Cogliandro, a high- ranking figure within the order, when Cogliandro visited the school. A short while later, Dabbene left the school, accordng to Stein.

The pattern is all too familiar to Patrick Wall, a former priest who now helps victims of clerical abuse. Wall said that it’s very common for Catholic priests accused of molestation to be moved to other institutions.

“We have cases every day of the week where they’re simply moved—they’re geographically moved to another location and put into ministry without telling anyone, local authorities, sometimes the local parish or sometimes even the diocese,” Wall told CNN.

Dabbene, however, wasn’t gone long. After being ordained and becoming “Father Dabbene,” he returned to the school, this time as its principal.

Another student, Joey Piscitelli, claims that the school’s vice principal, Father Stephen Whelan, befriended him, and asked him to come to the Salesian Boys Club on campus.

“We were going to play pool,” Piscitelli said. “He sat down at the bench and said, ‘You shoot.’ I said ‘OK,’ and I shot the ball. And I turned around and told him, ‘It’s your turn,’ And…he was sitting there masturbating.”

Over the months, Piscitelli said, the abuse worsened. He said he we eventually corned and dragged into a room, where he was raped, during which time he blacked out.

According to Wall, Catholic priests accused of molestation are often  protected by others in their order. “When you have a sexualized celibate system, you have people that will not report on one another,” he said. “And you have a system whereby children are lower valued than a priest or a member of the religious order. So, if they commit a crime, you look away.”

If you are a victim of Catholic sexual abuse—even if that abuse occurred years or even decades ago—you may be eligible to join the growing number of clergy abuse cases and receive compensation.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.