SAN DIEGO (CA)
Channel 8, CBS-TV affiliate
January 2, 2020
The lawsuits allege that six priests sexually abused the victims while they were serving as altar boys or during other church activities.
A local law firm is expected to announce the filing of over 100 new sexual abuse lawsuits against the San Diego Catholic Diocese and other California Dioceses on Thursday.
One of the lawsuits will be filed on behalf of four men who claim they were sexually abused by Father Anthony Rodrigue. Rodrigue was assigned to 10 parishes across San Diego, Imperial, San Bernadino and Riverside Counties over his 29-year career. During that time, attorney Irwin Zalkin said Rodrigue molested more than 150 boys and was routinely moved from one parish to another without punishment from church officials.
Following his removal from the priesthood, Rodrigue pleaded guilty in 1998 to molesting an 11-year-old developmentally disabled boy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Rodrigue died in 2009.
The lawsuit alleges that despite numerous complaints against him, Father Rodrigue was shuffled around parishes instead of being turned in to authorities.
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