Retired Wisconsin Priest Faces Extradition in Molestation Case

A retired priest from Wisconsin was arrested Friday and charged in San Diego with allegedly molesting a 15-year-old altar boy more than 20 years ago.

Prosecutors say that Franklyn Becker, 72, was a visiting priest at St. Brigid’s Church in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego in 1977 when he allegedly molested the boy.

Becker served at St. Brigid’s Church from June 1977 to January 1979, according to Chancellor Rodrigo Valdivia of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego.

Becker was arrested by authorities in Milwaukee on Friday and will be extradited to San Diego, where he faces two misdemeanor and two felony counts, said Gary Schons, a senior assistant attorney general.

Schons said there are other alleged victims of Becker in Wisconsin who will corroborate the San Diego allegations. It was the first criminal case filed against a priest in San Diego since the clergy abuse scandal broke.

A spokeswoman for the San Diego County district attorney’s office said it has transferred three cases involving alleged child molestation by Catholic priests to the state attorney general’s office for investigation, citing an unspecified conflict of interest.

In Los Angeles, eight priests and a former seminarian have been criminally charged in the ongoing investigation of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

There are two pending criminal cases against priests in Ventura County, two in San Bernardino County and one in Orange County.