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| Here Are Names of Houston-area Priests ‘credibly Accused’ of Child Sexual Abuse
By Nicole Hensley
Houston Chronicle
January 31, 2019
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Here-are-names-of-Houston-area-priests-13577497.php
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston released the names of 42 priests Thursday who have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children over the past decades.
Here is the list with the latest information provided by the archdiocese and additional information, where available, based on court records, historical information and Houston Chronicle archives.
Galveston-Houston Diocesan priests
Nicholas Cornelius Antle
Born: 1934 Died: 2016
Status: Retired 1990, removed from ministry 2011
Assignments: Catholic Chaplain Corps; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; St. Patrick’s, Galveston; St. Pius V, Pasadena; St. Rose of Lima, Houston (in residence); St. Vincent de Paul, Houston (in residence); Tribunal
History: Born in 1934 and raised in Baytown, Antle was ordained in 1959. Thirteen years later, he caught a drunken driving charge in Harris County, according to state records. He was convicted and sentenced to a year of probation. Twenty years after that, he was arrested for public lewdness. It’s not clear what led to the arrest, but he again netted a year of probation, and was also ordered to “continue counseling.” He started his work with the church in Galveston, spending six years at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, where he founded the St. Patrick’s Boys Choir, according to his obituary. After a few years at St. Pius V Church in Pasadena, he moved to the Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral and later served as the late Bishop Wendelin Nold’s chaplain and secretary. He had a total of seven assignments before retiring in 1990. He was removed from ministry in 2011.
Media: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle
ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Reaction pours in to report released by Archdiocese
Robert Ralph Barzyk
Born: 1932 Died: 2007
Status: Retired, 1993; removed from ministry, 1994
Assignments: Holy Family, Wharton; Holy Name, Houston; Holy Rosary, Rosenberg; Newman Center, Wharton Junior College; Sacred Heart, Galveston; St. Joseph, Baytown; St. Jude, Highlands
History: Barzyk was born in Pennsylvania in 1932 and spent his entire career in what is now the Archdiocese of Houston-Galveston. He was ordained in 1958 and had seven different assignments in Rosenberg, Houston, Wharton, Baytown, Galveston and Highlands before he retired in 1993. He was removed from ministry the following year and died in 2007.
David Emmett Burns
Born: 1935 Died: 2003
Status: Retired, 1992; removed from ministry, 1992
Assignments: All Saints, Houston; Annunciation, Houston; Christ the King, Houston (in residence); Our Mother of Mercy, Port Bolivar; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; Sacred Heart, Galveston; St. Francis de Sales, Houston; St. James, Port Arthur
History: Burns was born in Massachusetts in 1935 and came to Texas later, where he was ordained in 1961 He was arrested in June 1976 for driving under the influence in Houston, then fined and put on probation for 18 months, according to state records. He had nine assignments from Port Arthur to La Porte, and retired in 1992. He was removed from ministry the same year and died in 2003.
Allen Ray Doga
Born: 1925 Died: 1999
Assignments: Prince of Peace, Houston; Sacred Heart, Galveston; St. Edward, Spring; St. Frances Cabrini, Houston; St. Pius V, Pasadena
History: Born in 1925, Doga was ordained in 1949 and had five assignments in Houston, Galveston, Spring, Houston and Pasadena. He died in 1999.
George Patrick Dougherty
Born: 1925 Died: 2002
Status: Removed from ministry, 1996
Assignments: Christ the King, Houston; Notre Dame, Houston; Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, Navasota; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; Sacred Heart, Palestine; St. Augustine, Houston; St. Jerome, Houston; St. Patrick, Navasota
History: Born in Houston in 1925, Dougherty graduated from Lamar High School in 1942, where he was the head cheerleader, according to his obituary. He joined the Navy and transferred to the Marines, where he was wounded in Okinawa and received a Purple Heart. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, then worked for Conoco in Houston before switching careers to become ordained in 1967. He had eight assignments, from Houston to Navasota, and was removed from the ministry in 1996. He died in 2002.
Richard Edelin
Born: 1953
Status: Removed from public ministry, 2013
Assignments: Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; Sacred Heart, Conroe; Sacred Heart, Pattison; St. Francis de Sales, Houston; St. John Vianney, Houston; St. Thomas More, Houston; transferred to Diocese of Baker in Oregon in 2005
History: Ordained in 1979, Edelin was accused of groping a 17-year-old girl while working as a young priest from at least 1980 to 1984 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Houston. The woman filed a complaint with then-Bishop Joseph Fiorenza in 1996, and said she was given a $5,000 check and assurances that Edelin would no longer work as a priest. In 2004, she stepped forward again when she learned he was set to return to priestly duties at St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land. Church officials said at the time they were unable to confirm the allegations, however, and Edelin was approved to return to work in 2005 outside the Houston area. He was transferred to the Diocese of Baker in Oregon to serve at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in the town of John Day, and was reported officiating at a funeral in The Dalles, Oregon in January 2011. He also worked briefly as an auditor for the Galveston-Houston diocese.
Carlos (Charles) Guerra
Born: 1953
Status: Removed from ministry, 1984; left priesthood, 1987
Assignments: Epiphany of the Lord, Katy; St. Benedict the Abbott, Houston; St. Cyril of Alexandria, Houston
History: Ordained in 1981, Guerra was the first known priest arrested in the Houston area. He was charged in 1984 with sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy who said he was molested after visiting St. Cyril of Alexandria Church in west Houston in 1981 to learn about converting to Catholicism. At the time of the arrest, Guerra, 30, was assigned to Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Community in Katy. The boy said the alleged abuse began as massages and escalated over a period of three to four weeks. Charges against Guerra were dropped after a new state law required corroboration of the accuser’s testimony after a delay of six months. He left the priesthood in 1987.
Stephen R. Horn
Born: 1944
Status: Removed from ministry, 2008
Assignments: Christ the King, Houston; St. Luke the Evangelist, Houston; St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, Galveston; St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal, Texas City; St. Theresa, Houston
History: Horn was ordained in 1973. He was removed as pastor at St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Houston in 2008about two months after being accused of abusing a boy from 1989 to 1993 while assigned to Christ the King Catholic Church in Houston. Horn was treated at the Shalom Center rehabilitation facility for priests in Splendora after his removal, court records show. He was assigned to Christ the King from 1981 to 1994, when he was transferred to St. Luke the Evangelist.
William Jimenez
Born: 1927
Status: Removed from ministry, 1959
Assignments: Resurrection, Houston; St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, Galveston
History: Ordained in 1953, Jimenez was removed from the ministry six years later. He served at one church in Houston and one in Galveston.
Joseph Giles Leduc
Born: 1929 Died: 1981
Assignments: Annunciation, Houston; Assumption, Houston; Christ the King, Houston; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; St. Dominic, Houston; St. Joseph, Baytown; St. Mary, Port Arthur; St. Philip Neri, Houston; St. Pius V, Pasadena; St. Vincent de Paul, Houston
History: Ordained in 1955, Leduc had 10 different assignments with the Catholic Church in the Houston and Beaumont/Port Arthur areas.
Jesse S. Linam
Born: 1935
Status: Retired 1998
Assignments: Christ the King, Houston; Holy Rosary, Rosenberg; Newman Center, Galveston; Queen of Peace, Houston; Sacred Heart, Galveston; St. Ambrose, Houston; St. Andrew, Channelview; St. Henry, Freeport; St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Freeport; Sts. Peter and Paul, Bellville
History: Linam was ordained in 1961. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor in 2002 after a California man filed a federal lawsuit in Galveston against the diocese, accusing Linam of sexually molesting him in 1973 and 1974 while he was a young parishioner at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Channelview. Linam served at St. Andrew until 1985, then served as a celebrant and officiant at weddings and funerals from 1985 to 1991 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Anderson; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral and St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Houston; and Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Bellville in Austin County.
Donald A. Neumann
Born: 1946
Status: Removed from ministry, 2013
Assignments: Catholic Chaplain Corps; Our Lady of Fatima, Galena Park; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston (in residence); St. Gregory the Great, Houston (in residence); St. Paul the Apostle, Houston; St. Pius V, Pasadena; St. Thomas More, Houston
History: Ordained in 1972, Neumann was removed from the ministry in 2013 after seven assignments. Details of the allegations that led to his removal were not available.
Lawrence O. Peguero
Born: 1921 Died: 2000
Status: Retired 1993
Assignments: Holy Name, Houston; Our Lady of Sorrows, Houston; Our Lady of St. John, Houston; Resurrection, Houston; St. Anne, Beaumont; St. Gregory the Great, Houston; St. Joseph, Beaumont; St. Patrick, Galveston
History: Peguero was accused posthumously in a 2010 federal lawsuit by four siblings — three sisters and a brother — of molesting them at their home in the 1970s while he was assigned to Our Lady of St. John Catholic Church in Houston. Peguero, ordained in 1947, had been dead 10 years at the time. Before filing the lawsuit, the family members said they had reached out to the archdiocese in 2007 but rejected officials’ offer to fund counseling sessions. Peguero served at eight churches in Houston, Galveston and Beaumont before retiring in 1993.
Dennis L. Peterson
Born: 1947 Died: 2007
Status: Laicized 2005
Assignments: All Saints, Houston; Queen of Peace, Houston; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; Special Youth Services; St. Benedict the Abbott, Houston; St. Francis Cabrini, Houston; St. Jerome, Houston; St. John Neumann, Houston; St. Michael, Houston; St. Theresa, Houston
History: Dennis Peterson fashioned himself as an advocate for troubled youth in the Houston area, where he founded the Houston Community Youth Center and served as the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center’s chaplain. Ordained in 1973, he was on medical leave from St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Houston in 1999 when a lawsuit accused him of molesting one of the at-risk youths he was tasked with counseling. The victim, then in his 20s, claimed that Peterson, while assigned to St. Anne’s and St. Francis Cabrini Catholic churches in Houston, plied him with drugs and alcohol and abused him from 1987 to 1997, according to court papers. A grand jury in 1999 declined to indict Peterson for an alleged sexual assault in March 1997. Three more adults — all siblings — came forward in a 2000 lawsuit to accuse Peterson of molesting them as teens in the mid-1970s. The case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. He died in July 2007 from a sudden illness, according to his obituary. Services were held at St. Theresa’s in Houston.
Robert C. Ramon
Born: 1949 Died: 2014
Status: Removed from ministry, resigned from priesthood, 2002
Assignments: Annunciation, Houston; Prince of Peace, Houston; Resurrection, Houston; Shrine of the True Cross, Dickinson; St. Charles Borromeo, Houston; St. Frances Cabrini, Houston; St. John of the Cross, New Caney; Tribunal
History: Ordained in 1982, Ramon was assigned to Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Houston when he was accused of molesting a girl in 1991, according to a lawsuit her parents filed in 1993. The suit was settled in 1995, according to the Bishop Accountability website. Ramon died in Pasadena at age 64.
Charles Kevin Schoppe
Born: 1925 Died: 2014
Status: Removed from ministry and retired, 1992
Assignments: Resurrection, Houston; St. Dominic Center; St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, Galveston; St. Piux X, Beaumont; St. Thomas More, Houston
History: Ordained in 1949, Schoppe was overseeing the St. Dominic Center in Houston in 1992 when he was forced to resign from the ministry amid an allegation of child molestation. He was also accused of molesting four children while serving as pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Houston from 1967 until 1974. The diocese revealed the complaints of three victims about a week after the U.S. Conference of Bishops approved the Dallas Charter, which was created to dictate how dioceses react to child sex abuse claims.
Ivan Turic
Born: 1940
Status: Faculties removed, 1977
Assignments: Our Lady of Fatima, Galena Park (in residence); Port Ministry; St. Francis of Assisi, Houston; St. Michael, Lake Jackson; St. Vincent de Paul, Houston
History: Turic was ordained in 1968 and charged with indecency with a child — fondling — in 1977. He was removed from his duties as a priest the same year. The case was dismissed in 1980 without explanation. He had five assignments during his career as a priest.
Other Diocesan priests
Moises Cabrera
Born: 1946
Diocesan: Tuguegarao, Philippines; incardinated, Galveston-Houston 1985, and Manila 1994
Status: Removed from ministry, 1988
Assignments: Prince of Peace, Houston; St. Ambrose, Houston; St. Augustine, Houston; St. Michael, Houston; St. Rose of Lima, Houston; St. Thomas the Apostle, Huntsville
History: Ordained in 1969, Cabrera had six church assignments in Texas, all in Houston and Huntsville.
Rodrigo J. Guillermo
Diocesan: Manila, Philippines; incardinated, Galveston-Houston 1979
Born: 1928 Died: 2015
Status: Retired and removed from ministry, 1994
Assignments: Catholic Chaplain Corps; Our Lady of Fatima, Galena Park (in residence); Queen of Peace, Houston; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; St. Charles Borromeo, Houston; St. Jerome, Clute; St. Mathias the Apostle, Magnolia; St. Thomas More, Houston (in residence)
History: Guillermo was ordained in 1965 and eight assignments in Houston, Clute, Magnolia and Galena Park. He retired in 1994, the same year he was removed from ministry.
Alphonse Rodrigue Hemond
Religious: La Salette Fathers; incardinated Galveston-Houston, 1986
Born: 1916 Died: 1990
Status: Retired 1990
Assignments: Christ the King, Houston; Most Holy Trinity, Trinity; Our Lady of Lourdes, Hitchcock; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; St. Dominic, Houston; St. Francis of the Tejas, Crockett; St. John, Hungerford; St. Joseph, Brazoria; St. Mary, Cleveland
History: Hemond was ordained in 1949. He had pastoral assignments in Rhode Island, Canada, and Louisiana, where a stint in Baton Rouge led to at least three reports of abuse. The incidents in the 1960s and 1970s were reported between 1992 and 2002, according to the diocese there. He was incardinated in 1978 in Louisiana and in 1986 in Galveston-Houston. In the Lone Star State, he had nine assignments, including Houston, Crockett, Hungerford, Brazoria and Cleveland. He retired in 1990 and died the same year.
Denis O. Lynch
Religious: Discalced Carmelite; incardinated, Galveston-Houston, 1972
Born: 1930 Died: 2015
Status: Removed from Ministry 1993
Assignments: Christ the King, Houston; Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston; St. Alphonsus, Houston; St. Mary, Humble; St. Theresa, Houston
History: Ordained in 1957, Lynch was removed from the ministry in 1993 after five assignments. Through the 1960s, according to Chronicle archives, he spoke at various events around Houston and served as an instructor at Sacred Heart Dominican College and the Jesuit Preparatory School. A 1986 article cites him as a spokesman for the diocese.
Christopher J. Martin
Diocesan: Galveston-Houston, Victoria
Born: 1900 Died: 1989
Assignments: All Saints, Houston; Annunciation, Houston; Assumption, Houston; Blessed Sacrament, Houston; Holy Cross, Bay City; Holy Name, Houston; St. Anthony Cathedral, Beaumont; St. Joseph, Bryan; St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, Galveston; St. Patrick, Galveston
History: Martin was ordained in 1924 and had 10 assignments in Houston, Bay City, Beaumont, Bryan and Galveston.
Anthony G. Stredny
Diocesan: Nashville; incardinated Galveston-Houston, 1971
Born: 1929 Died: 2018
Status: Removed from ministry, 1993
Assignments: Not available from the archdiocese.
History: Stredny was ordained in 1957. According to Chronicle archives, he served at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church from 1985 to 1992, shortly before he was removed from the ministry. A native of Cleveland, he was reportedly active in youth and adult groups. A 2009 article by the Huntsville Record cited him as paying off the church’s $250,000 restoration debt and expanding the church’s programs during his tenure.
Religious Order Priests
Antonio Gonzalez, OMI
Religious: Oblate
Born: 1927
Status: Left the priesthood, 1985
Assignments: Immaculate Conception, Houston; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Houston; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Galveston; St. Patrick, Houston; St. Thomas the Apostle, Houston
History: Gonzales, ordained in 1957, was accused of impregnating a 17-year-old parishioner in 1983 while he was assigned to Immaculate Conception Church in Houston, according to a lawsuit filed in 2005. The priest promised her he was going to the Vatican to seek permission to marry her but never returned to their Harrisburg Boulevard parish; instead, he was shipped off to Canada. He was removed from the priesthood in 1985 after serving in parishes throughout Texas. The woman, believing he had died, learned in 2003 that he was living in Taylor with a family of his own. She sued the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate of Texas. The religious order agreed to pay her $1.35 million a week before trial was set to begin in 2008.
Jack Hanna, CSB
Religious: Basilian Fathers
Born: 1944
Status: Faculties Removed 2013 (Galveston-Houston)
Assignment: St. Thomas High School, Houston
History: Hanna graduated from Houston’s St. Thomas High School and was ordained in 1974 as part of the Basilian Fathers religious order. He went back to his alma mater, joining the faculty in 1981 to teach Spanish and art history. He resigned in 2013 after an unspecified misconduct complaint from an adult who did not work at the school. The school sent out an apology letter and Hanna entered treatment at a therapeutic center for priests. Additional details were not available.
Anthony Keil (Kyles), SSJ
Religious: Josephite Fathers
Born: 1894 Died: 1969
Ordained: Not available.
Assignments: Our Mother of Mercy, St. Francis Xavier, both in Houston
History: It’s not clear when Keil was ordained into the Josephite Fathers religious order, or when the accusations were made against him.
Dennis Laroche, MM
Religious: Maryknoll
Born: 1946
Status: Left priesthood 1987
Assignments: Our Lady of Fatima, Galena Park; St. Cyril of Alexandria, Houston
History: Laroche was ordained in 1974 as a member of the Maryknoll movement, known for its missionary work. He left the priesthood in 1987 but further details are not available. He served in the Philippines, according to a Maryknoll website, and then went to Ethiopia.
Pius Lawe, SVD
Religious: Divine Word Fathers
Born: 1976
Ordained: 2005
Status: Removed from ministry, 2009
Assignment: St. Mary of the Purification, Houston
History: Lawe was ordained in the Divine Word Fathers in 2005. He was removed from the ministry in 2009 after one assignment in Houston. He was reported officiating two funerals in Mississippi in 2012.
Raphael O’Loughlin, CSB
Religious: Basilian Fathers
Born: 1916 Died: 1998
Ordained: 1942
Assignments: Holy Family, Missouri City; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Rosenberg; St. Basil (Most Holy Trinity), Angleton; St. Thomas High School in Houston
History: O’Loughlin was ordained in 1942 had four assignments in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties and Houston. In 1991, he authored a book, “Basilian Leaders from Texas.” Details were not available of the allegations against him.
Vincent Orlando, SJ
Religious: Jesuit
Born: 1941
Status: Removed from ministry, 2002
History: Ordained in 1974, Orlando was a teacher and principal at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston when he was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in 1985 while working at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. The Houston school sent out a notice to parents in 2002 detailing the allegation. Orlando left Strake in 2000. A 2002 letter to parents described a another complaint, saying Orlando was accused of inappropriately touching a Strake student in 1984 during a school-sponsored ski trip.
Walter Dayton Salisbury, SSJ
Religious: Josephite Fathers
Birth date: Unavailable
Status: Removed from ministry and retired, 1993
Assignments: Prairie View Newman Center; St. Nicholas, Houston; Texas Southern Univeristy Newman Center
History: Ordained in 1959, Salisbury was arrested in April 1978 on allegations he molested a 13-year-old boy he met while serving as a chaplain at Texas Southern University’s Newman Center. He later pleaded no contest to the charge and received three years of probation. Salisbury was convicted of molesting another child in 1993 while assigned to St. Luke Parish in Washington, D.C. He is now believed to be living in Maine, where he was removed from a housing board for elderly residents after his two convictions were discovered in 2010. The Archdiocese of Washington D.C. identified Salisbury as credibly accused in October 2018.
Christopher Joseph Springer, CSSR
Religious: Redemptorist Fathers
Born:1925
Ordained: 1952
Status: Laicized, 1990
Assignment: Holy Ghost, Houston
History: Springer, a member of the congregation known as the Redemptorist Fathers, was ordained in 1952. He was “laicized” — that is, he lost his clerical status — in 1990. He had one assignment in Houston. An Arkansas man filed a civil suit against Springer, the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the Vatican and other Catholic organizations in 2011, accusing Springer of sexually abusing him as a child. The suit alleged that he abused children from 1952 to 1972 in New Orleans and was transferred to Baton Rouge, where he continued the abuse. The suit was dismissed in 2012. Two lawsuits against him in Corpus Christi were settled in 2007.
Donald Stavinoha, OMI
Religious: Oblate
Born: 1943 Died: 2007
Status: Removed from ministry, 1986;
Assignments: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Houston; St. Patrick, Houston
History: Stavinoha was arrested in 1986 after a Houston patrol officer found him sexually assaulting an aspiring 9-year-old altar boy in the back of a van belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in east Houston. The officer was a parishioner at the church and recognized Stavinoha as a co-pastor. Stavinoha pleaded guilty in 1990 and was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison, but was released in March 1991 after serving only about one year. He joined the church in 1983 after graduating from St. Anthony Seminary in San Antonio. He was ordained in 1970.
Gerard Martin Weber, OMI
Religious: Oblate
Born: 1936
Status: Removed from ministry, 2011
Assignments: Blessed Sacrament, Houston; Christian Renewal Center, Dickinson; Our Lady of Sorrows, Houston
History: Weber was ordained in 2011 into the Oblate of Mary Immaculate order. He was removed from the ministry the same year after serving assignments in Houston and Dickinson. Details are not available on the allegations raised against him.
John Benedict Weber, O.Carm.
Religious: Carmelite
Status: Removed from Ministry 2011
Assignments: Mount Carmel High School; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Houston
History: Details are not available about his removal from the ministry in 2011. He grew up in New York and was ordained in 1977.
Andrew Willemsen, CM
Religious: Vincentian, later incardinated, Austin
Born: 1928 Died: 2012
Assignments: St. Jerome, Houston; St. Mary Seminary, Houston
History: Ordained in 1954, Willemsen was a Vincentian priest. A San Antonio-area man accused him of abusing him when he was 12 to 14 years old, but was told Willemsen had already been sent out of the country. Additional details were not available.
Extern priests from other dioceses
Luis (Eugenio) Eugene DeFrancisco
Diocesan: Cali, Colombia
Born: 1908
Status: Removed from ministry, 1960
Assignments: Methodist Hospital; St. Vincent de Paul, Houston (in residence)
History: DeFrancisco was ordained in 1931 in the Cali, Colombia diocese. He was ordained in 1931. It’s not clear when he spent time in Houston.
Fernando Noe Guzman
Diocesan: Morelia, Mexico
Born: 1951 Died: 2006
Status: Removed from ministry, 1987
Assignments: Our Lady of Fatima, Galena Park; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Navasota; St. Patrick, Navasota
History: In one of the most notorious cases in the Houston area, Guzman was accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl at her grandfather’s home. He then blamed the girl, saying she was “a rather precocious child who came on to him,” a church leader later testified. The allegations surfaced two years at Guzman, ordained in 1979, came to the U.S. in 1982 from Morelia, Mexico for an assignment at the predominantly Spanish-speaking Christ Our Light Catholic Church in Navasota. He was later transferred to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Galena Park. the following year. The allegations against him surfaced after a church secretary in Galena Park file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing him of forcing her into a sexual relationship. The lawsuit was dismissed, but Guzman was charged with sexual assault in Grimes County. He pleaded guilty, was granted shock probation and served 90 days in jail. He registered as a sex offender in Galena Park and was arrested at least twice for drunken driving in Waller County in 1994 and Harris County in 1997.
Francisco Ordonez
Diocesan: Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
Born: 1930
Status: Removed from ministry, 2003
Assignments: Immaculate Conception, Houston; St. Augustine, Houston; St. Helen, Pearland (assisted with Spanish Masses); Notre Dame, Houston; St. Benedict, Houston; St. John Vianney, Houston; St. Vincent de Paul, Houston
History: Ordained in 1995 in the Nuevo Laredo, Mexico diocese, he had seven assignments in Texas in eight years.
Joseph Tully
Diocesan: Rockford
Born: Unknown Died: 1982
Status: Retired, 1971
Assignments: St. Anne, Beaumont; St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, Galveston; St. Theresa, Houston
History: Tully, of the Rockford Diocese, was ordained in 1925. He had three assignments in the Galveston-Houston diocese before retiring in 1971 for undisclosed reasons.
Recent allegations currently under investigation
John T. Keller
Diocesan: Galveston-Houston
Born: 1948
Status: Removed from ministry, 2019
Assignments: Christ the Good Shepherd, Spring; Prince of Peace, Houston; St. Frances Cabrini, Houston; St. Justin Martyr, Houston
History: Ordained in 1974, Keller was accused of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 9th grade boy while assigned to Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Houston. The allegations surfaced after a woman sent a letter on behalf of her now-adult son to a former diocese chancellor in July 2001 detailing the allegations. A diocese review board considered the complaint and Keller underwent a psychological assessment, according to church officials. Former Bishop Joseph Fiorenza dismissed the complaint, saying there were “obvious differences” between what the accuser and Keller said of the incident. The bishop concluded that Keller “should remain in ministry.” Details are not available about his recent removal from the ministry.
Facing criminal charges
Manuel La Rosa Lopez
Diocesan: Galveston-Houston
Born: 1957
Status: Removed from ministry 2001 and 2018, per archdiocese
Assignments: Sacred Heart, Conroe; St. Francis de Sales, Houston; St. John Fisher, Richmond; Tribunal
History: La Rosa-Lopez, the latest priest to face criminal charges, is accused of abusing an altar boy in 1992 while he was a seminarian. The child’s family confronted church leaders at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Houston about alleged inappropriate touching and La Rosa-Lopez was moved out of the parish. The Peruvian clergyman was nonetheless ordained in 1996 and assigned to the Sacred Heart in Conroe in 1997, where he was accused of molesting two more youths. He was confronted again about the alleged abuse in Conroe in 2001 and was treated at the Shalom Center in Splendora. He was later reassigned to St. John the Fisher Church in Richmond, where he remained until the month before his Sept. 11 arrest. He is facing charges of four counts of indecency with a child in Montgomery County.
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