Late Tacoma priest among those named in sexual-abuse settlements by Seattle archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Seattle announced Friday final settlements totaling more than $3 million for five separate claims related to allegations of sexual abuse in the 1960s and 1970s, including by a priest who served in Tacoma.

Father Thomas Pitsch served as pastor at St. Patrick Parish from 1964 to 1971 at the time of two of the alleged abuses, the archdiocese said in a news release.

“Pitsch died in 1978. At the time of his death, no allegations of sexual abuse had come forward,” the news release said.

The archdiocese also announced settlement of claims involving allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in the 1960s at Briscoe Memorial School in Kent, a priest at O’Dea High School in Seattle and a playground supervisor at St. Louise School in Bellevue.

Pitsch and others are identified on the archdiocese’s List of Clergy and Religious Brothers and Sisters for Whom Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor Have Been Admitted, Establish or Determined to be Credible.

“As part of its commitment to transparency, the Archdiocese of Seattle invites people to visit its Protect and Heal website to learn about the history of sexual abuse in the archdiocese, which peaked in 1975 and has since sharply declined,” according to the news release.