Molestation Lawsuit Against Priest Dropped by Ex-Student

A former Mater Dei High School student has dropped a sexual-molestation lawsuit against Msgr. Michael Harris, a well-known Orange County priest who was principal when the alleged misconduct took place in the 1970s.

On Thursday, lawyers filed a one-page form in Orange County Superior Court seeking to drop Harris from the lawsuit filed by David A. Price, the former student.

William M. Paoli, Price’s attorney, said his client will pursue the sexual abuse allegations in the lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, but will not seek monetary damages from the priest.

“The bottom line is Msgr. Harris has no financial wherewithal,” Paoli said.

Harris, 49, has maintained his innocence since accusations were leveled in 1994 that he had abused Price in his office during school hours for four years.

Harris, who later went on to found Santa Margarita High School, was “relieved that this matter is behind him,” his attorney, John D. Barnett, said Thursday.

“He was sustained by his faith in God and by his belief in the inevitable force of truth,” Barnett said.

Barnett said Harris, who quit Santa Margarita nine months before the allegations were made public, was weighing his future.

“He has not decided what his next mission will be,” Barnett said.

A judge has already dismissed the lawsuit against the diocese, but Price has appealed that action. Paoli said he plans to call Harris to testify if the case is reinstated.

Price, now 31, alleged in the lawsuit that Harris would summon him to the principal’s office with special hall passes delivered to his classes and then force him to engage in sex acts.

Harris took a leave of absence months before the suit was filed while an investigation into similar allegations involving another former student was underway. After news reports of the Price lawsuit, a third former student alleged that he, too, had been molested by Harris. No criminal charges were ever filed. Barnett called the allegations “absurd” and said he had not finished questioning Price under oath during depositions when the plaintiff decided to drop the suit against Harris.