HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle
May 16, 2019
By Nicole Hensley
Authorities used a lock pick to open a “bank vault” containing a trove of clergy files that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston failed to hand over following a subpoena, according to court documents.
The picking tool helped Conroe Police Department investigators access the documents last November during a raid at the church’s Houston headquarters, Detective Joe McGrew said while describing the church’s lack of cooperation with their criminal probe. The agency was looking for evidence in the case against indicted priest Manuel La Rosa-Lopez and other clergy members who may have committed a crime.
A Dallas investigator said he contacted the Conroe Police Department and Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office regarding their search warrants. A sworn statement states that McGrew told his North Texas counterpart, David Clark, that after issuing a subpoena, his agency later “learned the Diocese of Galveston-Houston did not turn over everything” involving the priest in their investigation.
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