Monday, May 15, 1995, San Francisco Examiner

The Roman Catholic priest who blew the whistle on two fellow priests in Sonoma County says he has become a sort of ecclesiastical outcast, unable to function as a priest and denied a clergy job in his native Santa Rosa community.

"I've certainly paid the price for talking," says the Rev. William Finn, a native of Sebastopol who was ordained in 1973. "All I did was the right thing -- to defend young people. And it came back to haunt me.

"If that's the price, so be it. I sleep well at night."

Finn, 50, now lives in northern Washington state, and has applied for parish work with church authorities there. Meanwhile, he works as a resort chef.

"Thank God, I have that," he says of his cooking job.

In the decade after his ordination, Finn worked at Cardinal Newman Catholic High School in Santa Rosa, as a teacher, then vice principal, then for five years as principal.

During a counseling session, one of his students confided that he had been molested by a priest, Gary Timmons, who operated a Northern California church camp, according to a sworn statement Finn made in San Francisco Superior Court files.

Finn said in the document that he went to Bishop Mark Hurley, the now retired spiritual leader of the Santa Rosa diocese. Hurley said he would investigate the complaint, Finn said.

"I left it at that and told the student that I had dealt with the problem," Finn said.

Some time later, he told the court, another student told him he had been sexually molested by the Rev. Austin Peter Keegan, and once again he complained to the bishop.

"I left the office both times really believing something would be done, that it would be taken care of," Finn said. "It was very painful but I had no qualms doing it."

A lawsuit accuses the church of sheltering the two priests by transferring them to new parishes after learning of their alleged sexual abuse.

Hurley has not been available for comment; Santa Rosa's current bishop, G. Patrick Ziemann, was out of town, his office said.

Finn says Ziemann has been wholly supportive of his efforts to find church work, writing him a letter of recommendation.

Finn left the high school in 1984, and worked as a pastor in Juneau, Alaska. He later took a lengthy leave of absence, working for a home warranty company, then running a Santa Rosa restaurant.

In 1993, he applied for a full-time position with the Santa Rosa diocese. The personnel board turned him down last June.

There may be other reasons, Finn acknowledged, but "I was turned down at least partly due to the fact that I had spoken publicly about the alleged molestations. I am far from a perfected human being. I am not pushing myself as a saint, but I have never harmed anyone.

"I'm not bitter. My love for the church and desire to serve remain as constant as ever. I'd like to do whatever I can to help the church address these problems." he "paid price' for talking well at night'

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