SMCHS' First Principal Named In Previously Sealed Molest Documents

Michael Harris, the founding principal of Santa Margarita Catholic High, who was implicated in the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal in the 1990s, was named Wednesday in documents that had previously been sealed, according to a report in the Orange County Register.

According to police reports in the summer of 1994, Harris allegedly abused his victim three times annually from 1979-1983 while principal at Mater Dei. The police report, which was based on memories recovered during a patient's therapy, alleged that Harris kissed, touched and engaged in explicit sexual acts.

The victim is said to have filed the police reports first in Orange and then in Santa Ana.

According to Stephen Bohannon, media relations officer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, Harris was removed from the priesthood in 1994 and laicized—made a lay person—in 2002.

In 2001, Harris was a defendant in a landmark $5.2-million settlement involving the Roman Catholic Church.

Harris maintained his innocence, according to the Orange County Register, which also detailed alleged abuse by two other priests; one of them, Gary Pacheco, also allegedly abused the man who accused Harris.

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