ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
The New Mexican
By Andy Lenderman The New Mexican
March 30, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE — A boy who claims his former priest sexually abused him has sued the priest, the Rev. George S. Silva, in U.S. District Court.
The civil suit filed Wednesday also names Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe as defendants.
The boy, identified as John Doe in court records, once served as an altar boy in the St. Patrick’s /St. Joseph’s Parish in Raton, where Silva served, according to the civil complaint . The boy was younger than age 16 at the time, a separate criminal indictment says.
After gaining his family’s trust, Silva took the boy on a religious pilgrimage to Lisbon, Portugal, last June and performed a “non-consensual sexual act” on him in a hotel room there, according to the complaint.
At the time, the complaint reads, Silva had control of the boy’s passport, airline tickets and money.