WASHINGTON (DC)
Governing
May 16, 2019
By Nichole Manna
The Catholic Diocese of Dallas has not been forthcoming in sharing information about priests accused of sexually abusing children, police said Wednesday.
Search warrants were executed Wednesday morning and officers were at the diocese offices at around 7:30 a.m. in connection with their investigation into five priests: Edmundo Paredes, 70; Richard Thomas Brown, 77; Alejandro Buitrago, 77; William Joseph Hughes Jr., 63; and Jeremy Myers, 62.
The warrant says investigators believe all five men sexually assaulted children, but that the diocese has not shared all of its information about them.
In a statement, the diocese said it has been cooperating with the investigation and that it was never subpoenaed. The statement also said that officials in the diocese have given police the personnel files of the five priests named in the warrant and “has been involved in ongoing discussions with DPD investigators.”
However, a search warrant written by police says the diocese didn’t cooperate with the investigation. In one of the cases, the warrant says, a priest was asked by the diocese to investigate himself.
Maj. Max Geron of the Dallas Police Department said the investigation started in August 2018, when police received information from the diocese about allegations against Paredes and financial improprieties.
Geron said the department has interviewed victims, witnesses and suspects. However, the department has not been given a number of personnel files for priests who were flagged for sexual abuse, the warrant says.
Asked if the investigation involves new allegations, Geron said, “I won’t address the time frame for the allegations, but I will say they are new allegations that were made to us following the announcement of charges against Paredes.”
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