Fake friar is arraigned on child molestation charges

SAN MATEO, Calif.
— A fake friar convicted of molesting a boy during a church trip a
decade ago was in court Tuesday afternoon to face charges he sexually
abused another teenage boy.

Anthony Thomas Falco, 72, was charged with 19 counts
of child molestation, crimes that could send him to prison for the rest
of his life, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Falco has a history of posing as a Franciscan monk
to gain trust within Catholic communities, according to law enforcement
officials. He was staying with a Daly City family this winter when he allegedly began abusing a teenage boy in the household.

The family knew him as “Brother Tom” and believed he was a clergyman, according to Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney in San Mateo County.

Falco allegedly began fondling the teen at the end of November. The abuse continued on and off until last week, when Daly City
police followed up on a tip about a sex offender living in their city
who had not followed state registration requirements and arrested
Falco, Wagstaffe said.

At that time, Falco was wanted in Minnesota for failing to register as a sex offender and not appearing in court on those charges.

He had been posing as a monk at a church in St. Cloud, Minn.,
until his true identity was discovered. He was arrested by sheriff’s
deputies there, but freed because he was not considered a threat to the
community. Authorities believe that’s when he fled Minnesota and took refuge with the Daly City family. He had ties to the victim’s grandmother and had stayed with the family in the past, according to police.

A decade ago, Falco was convicted in Santa Cruz County of molesting Clay Brasuell Jr. of Aptos during a trip to Bosnia organized by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Capitola when Brasuell was 15. It was later discovered that Falco had made up the order of monks he professed to belong to.

Brasuell, now 26 and living in the Santa Cruz Mountains with his wife and young children, went to Falco’s arraignment Tuesday afternoon.

“There was a minute there of anger and then I saw
him look over at me and he got startled,” Brasuell said. “He wasn’t
expecting, I think, to see myself or my family there. … You could see
he was shaking, so I felt good for being there and facing him.”

Brasuell, his parents and a close childhood friend
watched the proceedings. An attorney was appointed to represent Falco,
who returns to court March. 2 to enter a plea.

Falco is being held in San Mateo County Jail on $1.6 million bail.

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The San Mateo County Times contributed to this report.