TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, March 7, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Molestation allegations against a veteran Texas Catholic priest escalated Monday as a woman swore that the Rev. Joseph Tu abused her twice – during confession – when she was a little girl.
In a court filing, the woman said she was speaking up for the first time because recent news coverage showed that "I was not his only victim." She urged Tarrant County state District Judge Len Wade to unseal records on how Fort Worth Diocese officials handled previous accusations against Father Tu.
"During confession," according to the latest accuser's affidavit, Father Tu "told me to sit on his lap. ... He put his hand on my knee and began moving his hand under my skirt and up my leg and inner thigh toward my genitals.
"I became very nervous. I jumped off his lap. He held on to me, then kissed me on the cheek" and told her everything was OK.
The priest molested her about six months later, but she again managed to flee, the woman said in her affidavit.