YAKIMA (WA)
Yakima Herald-Republic
October 25, 2017
By Jane Gargas
[Note: See also BishopAccountability.org’s database entry on Gómez Santos.]
A lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of a minor was filed against the Catholic Diocese of Yakima in Superior Court on Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a young man who said that the Rev. Gustavo Gómez Santos abused him at St. Juan Diego Catholic Church in Cowiche in 2012 when the alleged victim was 16 or 17 years old.
Last May, after the young man reported the abuse to the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, Gómez was permanently removed from public ministry by Bishop Joseph Tyson.
The lawsuit claims that the Diocese of Yakima knew or should have known that Gomez posed a danger to children but failed to take steps to prevent him from using his position as a Diocesan priest to sexually abuse the plaintiff.
The lawsuit, filed by the plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Pfau of Seattle, did not name the amount of monetary damages being sought.
Gómez has denied that any abuse occurred.
The plaintiff, a former Mattawa resident who now lives in King County, alleged that he was fondled by Gómez while he attended confirmation classes at St. Juan Diego Parish in Cowiche, where Gómez was pastor. He claimed that the priest used his position to groom and to sexually abuse him. He said the priest frequently gave him massages and subsequently sexually assaulted him in the parish rectory.
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