Former priest named in new abuse case

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Albuquerque Journal
July 17, 2017

https://www.abqjournal.com/1034170/former-nm-priest-named-in-new-abuse-case.html

Jason Sigler

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A former priest who served nine years in a Michigan prison for sexually abusing two boys is named in a new lawsuit filed on behalf of a Santa Fe man who alleges that Jason Sigler repeatedly attacked him at a church in Las Vegas.

The lawsuit, filed July 5 in 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque, alleges that Sigler sexually abused the former altar boy at Immaculate Conception Church over a period of about two years. The man, identified as John Doe 68, was 9 when the abuse began in 1976, the suit said. It is the 68th clerical abuse lawsuit filed by Albuquerque attorney Brad Hall.

Sigler served nine years in a Michigan prison after pleading guilty in 2003 to molesting two boys. He returned to Albuquerque in 2014. A voice mail message left Friday on a phone number listed in Sigler’s name was not returned.

Sigler, who left the priesthood in 1982, pleaded guilty in Albuquerque to a charge of criminal sexual penetration of a minor in 1983 and received a deferred sentence, according to Journal reports at the time.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the Servants of the Paraclete, a religious order that operated a now-closed treatment facility for priests in Jemez Springs. The Diocese of Lansing, Mich., sent Sigler to the facility in 1970, according to Journal reports.

The archdiocese said in a written statement Friday that it does not comment publicly about pending legal cases. It also said the archdiocese “continues to be vigilant and stands firm on its zero tolerance policy regarding sexual misconduct.”

The archdiocese has a safe-environment coordinator and review board to enforce those policies, and requires all priests and employees to undergo a background check and complete safe-environment training, the statement said.