Squid sees an accused priest's name vanish from cop association membership roster.

Off List…Now that we’re well into February, Squid spent the weekend going over Squid’s list of New Year’s resolutions, seeing what’s worked and what hasn’t. What’s worked: Making lists! Eating more fiber! Moving the old tentacles for 30 minutes a day! What hasn’t worked: Cooking most meals at the lair rather than going out! Learning to knit! Accepting people for who and what they are!

Squid’s been fixated on the aforementioned positives and negatives for awhile. Lists are great; people being people, not always so great. And Squid recently came across a set of circumstances that brings all of that home in one fell swoop.

In January, the Diocese of Monterey released its list of clergymen who have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children, dating back to the 1950s. To be on that list, you had to meet a certain set of somewhat nebulous criteria: You had to be a clergymember, the act had to involve sexual misconduct with a minor and the accusation had to appear credible. Of the 30 names that appeared on the Monterey Diocese’s list, 19 are conveniently dead, which means they’ll never be called to account for their acts in the mortal plane (although Squid believes that wherever they are now, they’ve had a lot of explaining to do).

But there was one name on the list that seemed familiar and sent Squid searching Squid’s memory for why.

That name is Carl Faria, who appears on the list in “Category 1,” meaning the Diocese found the accusation of him credible but his name hasn’t previously been made public. According to the Diocese, Faria was named for instances of abuse between 1968-1971, then again between 1973-1976. The alleged acts were reported to the Diocese in 2002; Faria retired in 2002, and then had his faculties to act as a priest removed later that year.

Faria, until last month, was also a board member of the Monterey County Peace Officers Association—along with folks like former District Attorney Dean Flippo and a host of current and retired cops from Carmel, Seaside, Marina and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

The MCPOA is a fraternal organization whose stated mission is: “To advance police administration and crime prevention; to secure coordination in all law enforcement matters; to encourage the enlistment, equipment and training of qualified persons in police work; to achieve adherence of all peace officers to high professional standards of conduct; and generally to improve the administration of justice to the end that full protection may be secured to all law-abiding citizens.”

Once the Diocese released its list, some eyebrows—including Squid’s—were raised in regard to his ongoing position on the MCPOA board. Questions were asked along the lines of, “WTF dude?”

In January, the board held an emergency meeting, didn’t invite Faria to attend, and voted to ask him to resign in lieu of kicking him off.

That might have been the end of it. But that vote, and the way it happened, raised the ire of retired Marina Police Cmdr. Bob Nolan (and failed 2018 Marina mayoral candidate), who resigned from the MCPOA board in protest—protest at the way Faria had been treated.  

“I’m a Carl supporter,” Nolan tells one of Squid’s colleagues. “They asked him to resign without hearing his side of the story. I wasn’t there and the people who supported him weren’t there. I was appalled at the stance they took. It was despicable. Regardless of how you feel, you should hear him out.”

Squid’s colleague asked Nolan to reach out to Faria and see if he’d be willing to speak, but so far, no dice.

“I’ve been deferring to Father Carl to explain his actions,” Nolan says. “I’ve known him for 20 years and he’s an honorable, respectful person who’s done so much for law enforcement. The lives he’s touched, his work with depressed, suicidal officers—he’s saved more lives than I can possibly imagine.”

Sounds fair, but Squid can’t help but think it’s well past time the kids Faria allegedly hurt get their own form of due process; Faria stepping down seems like a reasonable gesture.

Until Squid’s colleague began asking questions about a week ago, Faria’s name still appeared on the association’s website. But that site has been updated and his name scrubbed from it. As has Nolan’s.

Former Marina Police Cpl. Justine McMahon, in response to an emailed question about Faria’s presence on the board, put it thusly: “He is not on our board of directors or a member of our association. I hope this answers your question.”

Squid still has a lot of questions, including why so many priests accused of sexual abuse have such deep ties to law enforcement. But maybe for some things, Squid will have to wait for answers to come from another realm.