Legal News

Civil suit reveals widespread abuse in Monterey diocese

By Richard Binder

Next month the Diocese of Monterey faces a lawsuit alleging that a migrant who served as an altar boy in Salinas and Arizona was sexually assaulted by two priests for six years, starting in 1988 when the boy was 8 years old. In pretrial testimony, diocese leaders acknowledged that when they learned about abuse involving the Rev. John Velez, they did not alert authorities, did nothing to protect the boy, and made no effort to determine whether other victims or perpetrators existed. Meanwhile, the suit alleges, the boy was being molested by another priest, the Rev. Juan Guillen of Tucson, who took over as pastor of Christ the King Church in Salinas for three weeks after Velez was sent to a retreat house.

Guillen, who had allegedly been molesting the boy for years, is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Arizona for sex crimes against children. Velez is believed to be practicing as a priest in Mexico.

Also snared in the civil case against the priests and the diocese are retired Bishop Sylvester Ryan and Monsignor Charles Fatooh, who revealed in a deposition that he was accused of child molestation in 2003.

Testimony sheds new light on the relationship between the Monterey diocese and another widely suspected Diocese of Tucson abuser, Robert Trupia, who has since been defrocked by the Vatican.

Click here for a history of the case.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 18, 2009 (boomark / email).