Gallup Diocese reveals 31 alleged abusers

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Albuquerque Journal
December 17, 2014

http://www.abqjournal.com/513612/news/gallup-diocese-reveals-31-alleged-abusers.html

The Diocese of Gallup this week published a list of 30 priests and one lay teacher accused of “credible allegations” of child sexual abuse while assigned to parishes in New Mexico and Arizona, Gallup Bishop James Wall said in a written statement.

The new list marks the first time since 2005 that the diocese has named additional priests to those previously identified as “credibly accused clergy.” The 2005 list identified 11 priests.

“The publication of these additional names does not mean that our vigilance and continued investigation ends here,” Wall wrote in a statement published with the list.

Wall apologized for “the actions of those who violated the trust of the survivors and the parishioners with the Diocese by committing these terrible acts.” He also commended the “bravery and courage” of victims who have come forward.

At least seven of the priests identified in the list were assigned to New Mexico parishes for at least a portion of their careers with the diocese. They include the Rev. John Boland, who served at a total of 13 parishes in the diocese, including eight in New Mexico, from 1975 to 2009.

Boland was indicted by an Arizona grand jury in 1983 on felony charges for allegedly abusing a 14-year-old boy after providing him with liquor at Madre de Dios church in Winslow, Ariz., where Boland pastored at the time.

A judge dismissed the felony charges in 1983 after Boland entered a negotiated guilty plea to a single misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, court records show. He received a 16-month suspended sentence.

Boland later pastored at Immaculate Conception parish in Cuba from 2002 until he was placed on leave in February 2009. He is believed to have moved to Ireland.

The diocese filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in 2012 in response to 13 lawsuits filed against the diocese by alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests who worked within the diocese from 1950 until as recently as 2013. The bankruptcy case has yet to be resolved.

Of the priests listed, the last removed from service was the Rev. Timothy Conlon, who was removed as parish administrator from two Arizona parishes in December 2013 after his personnel records showed that he had been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse decades earlier.

The statement urges anyone harmed by the sexual misconduct of a diocese employee to contact law enforcement or call the diocese’s victim assistance coordinator at 505-906-7357.