SANTE FE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican
October 25, 2018
By Andrew Oxford
A former student of Holy Cross Catholic School in Santa Cruz says in a new lawsuit that he was raped by a priest in the adjacent church during the 1980s.
The case is just the latest allegation that the Rev. Marvin Archuleta abused children in the area and comes as state Attorney General Hector Balderas investigates a history of sexual misconduct in New Mexico’s Roman Catholic dioceses, where predators were shuffled for decades.
The lawsuit by an unnamed John Doe, now 38, says Archuleta and another priest summoned him and other children from class to the church, ostensibly to talk with them about becoming altar boys. At one point, the other priest ushered children out of the room, leaving the boy with Archuleta, according to the lawsuit. The suit says Archuleta proceeded to rape the elementary school student.
The plaintiff never told anyone about the episode but grew addicted to alcohol and other drugs, the lawsuit says.
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