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	Allegation against Priest Sparks Suit By Jason Van Rassel Calgary Herald June 16, 2011 http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Allegation+against+priest+sparks+suit/4954949/story.html A false allegation made seven years ago against a Calgary Catholic priest who headed a parish in India has spawned legal action on both sides of the ocean. Father Newton Rodrigues has filed a defamation suit in Court of Queen's Bench alleging a former parishioner continues to spread false sexual assault allegations against him even though he was exonerated by authorities in India years ago. The suit, filed in Calgary last month, seeks $600,000 in damages from Aires Rodrigues, a lawyer in Ribandar, India. In 2004 Father Rodrigues was accused of molesting a 13-year-old girl while he was a parish priest in Ribandar, a village in the northwestern Indian state of Goa. According to the statement of claim, the case against Father Rodrigues was dropped when the girl and her parents said they made up the allegation. "Both the girl and the girl's mother filed numerous handwritten statements with the police indicating that the allegations were false. The girl's parents subsequently filed sworn evidence with a Goan court, attesting that the allegations were false. All of the statements requested that the charges and proceedings against Father Newton be dropped," reads the priest's statement of claim. In 2006, Father Rodrigues moved to Calgary, where he is a priest at St. Bernadette Church. Father Rodrigues's lawsuit alleges Aires Rodrigues published online reports and sent e-mails to Catholic officials in Calgary and nearly 90 local parishes which repeated the false allegations and alleging the priest was aided by a coverup. Aires Rodrigues is now the subject of a criminal trial in India relating to the events at the Ribandar parish in 2004. Aires Rodrigues is accused of trespassing for allegedly confronting the priest at the church, accompanied by a group of parishioners. Father Rodrigues's lawsuit alleges Aires Rodrigues revived the false allegations to take attention away from his upcoming trespassing trial. "In or about the fall of 2010, in an effort to divert public attention on the eve of his trial, the defendant published or caused to be published, a series of defamatory articles and blog postings in Goa, India, and the world at large," reads the statement of claim. In addition to $600,000, the suit is seeking an injunction against the defendant publishing any further articles about Father Rodrigues and orders requiring published apologies wherever the allegedly defamatory statements appeared. Contact: jvanrassel@calgaryherald.com
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