Catholic Diocese of El Paso releases list of priests accused of sexually abusing children

The El Paso Catholic Diocese has released a list of 30 clergy “credibly accused” or convicted of sexually abusing a child.

The Diocese hired a retired police investigator and gave the investigator full access to its records. The investigator looked at cases already identified and looked for other cases. A review board, including professional therapists, then analyzed the findings and compiled the list of priests “credibly” accused of abusing a minor. The list also includes priests convicted of sexually abusing minors and those involved in civil cases.

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A “credible” case means the Church is confident abuse took place in that case, said Seitz, who added most of the accused and convicted priests are no longer active. “I think the majority on this list have now died. These cases go back as far as 70 years and the vast majority of them are between the period of the 50s and 70s,” said Seitz.

The Catholic Bishop of El Paso said the list focused of priests and bishops and other members of the clergy. “We added three religious brothers because their cases were somewhat egregious and because they were associated with the clergy because of their religious vows,” said Bishop Seitz.

The number of priests accused in El Paso is not higher than most other places across the US. This surprised the Diocese. “We were expecting that we would see a higher number (priests accused or convicted) compared to other parts of the country. Our Diocese has not always had enough priests and so it has always look for priests from other places and that has opened the Church up to accepting priests that perhaps needed to get away from their diocese. In former times, their past records were not looked at carefully,” said Seitz.

The bishop further stated the focus right now was to compile the list. The Diocese will then investigate if leadership could have done more to prevent abuse. “In the future, we’re going to look more carefully on whether there were Bishops or other leaders in the Diocese who didn’t respond as they should have, even given the limited understanding at the time and we will be forthcoming with that information,” Seitz said.

The last report of child abuse at the hands of priest with the Diocese of El Paso was reported before 1999, said Seitz, who added “There has been no incidents of abuse reported in the Catholic Diocese of El Paso in the past 20 years. In the midst of this sad and tragic news, is a bit of light for us to see that the response of the Church has indeed brought forth some results.”

Seitz said the Diocese continues to hear from victims. “The reports coming to us today are, very often, are situations that took place, 40, 50 and 60 years ago. We hope the publication of this list will motivate other victims to come forward. We have them to receive the help, spiritually and emotionally,” said Seitz. The bishop further stated the Diocese often offers financial help to victims so they can pay for counseling and therapy they need.

Victims who wish to come forward and report abuse are asked to contact the Diocese of El Paso and ask for Susan Martinez, a therapist who serves the victims assistance coordinator with the Diocese. Seitz also encourages victims to file a police report.

“Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed. You were a child when this happened and you are in no way at fault,” said Seitz.