Former Pastor of St. Raymond Church Investigated

Formerly retired Monsignor Harry Schlitt will temporarily oversee administrative duties at Catholic Church in Menlo Park, while the Archdiocese of San Francisco investigates by one if its priests, according to George Wesolek, Director of Social Concerns for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Father William Myers was removed from his position at the church May 28 after it was discovered that he followed a 17-year-old boy into the dressing room of a Ross Dress for Less in San Francisco. There was no physical contact between him and the teen. But the behavior was deemed inappropriate.

The father reported the case to the San Francisco Police. Months later, the District Attorney will not pursue a case against him for undisclosed reasons, according to Erica Terry Derryck, Communications Director at the San Francisco District Attorney’s office. The case was discharged.

In the meantime, the Archdiocese of San Francisco is interviewing candidates to decide who will replace Father Myers place as leader of the church. Temporary pastors have been leading the church since Myers left. Wesolek said all of the candidates will be “thoroughly vetted” with background checks, disclosing that the process was imperfect.

“The only thing that came up in Father Myers' background was that he was in therapy for dealing with his sexual identity,” Wesolek said July 14.

“If it was serious, for example if we had found out that he had abused in the past, he wouldn’t have had the job,” he said.

The Church's review board will be meeting this week to discuss Father Myers' case and decide whether it would be appropriate to keep him as a church leader in the Catholic community, although Wesolek could not confirm that they would arrive at a conclusion.

The Archdiocese hopes to permanantly place a new priest at the parish by the fall.