Fri, May 26, 1995, San Francisco Examiner

An attorney for Monsignor Patrick O'Shea, accused of 16 counts of child molestation, will ask that the charges be dismissed following the state Supreme Court's refusal to review a similar case.

The high court Thursday denied review of a state appellate court ruling that barred the prosecution of an accused Los Angeles child molester after the statute of limitations had expired.

"I will be filing soon a motion to dismiss the charges against the monsignor," attorney Jim Collins said.

He said there was no longer any legal ground on which to prosecute O'Shea.

Bob Podesta, chief assistant district attorney, said he would review the court's action before deciding what course to take in the O'Shea case. He said the Supreme Court might be asked to reconsider its decision.

The high bench refused to review a Second District Court of Appeal decision that held a 1994 law passed by the Legislature allowing an expired statute of limitations to be renewed would violate the U.S. Constitution's ban against ex post facto criminal laws.

The state attorney general's office appealed that ruling, asking the high court to hear the matter. Its refusal means the appellate decision is now the law statewide.

O'Shea, 62, the former pastor of St. Cecilia's Church on 17th Avenue in the Parkside District, has been charged with molesting nine men, several of them while they were altar boys, in a mobile home at Lake Berryessa in Napa County.

The 16 counts of child sexual abuse filed against him allegedly took place in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s. There are no reported incidents after 1985.

The 1994 law defined the statute of limitations as one year from the date a person of any age reports to police that he or she was a victim of sexual molestation.

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