New Mexico priest is charged with 'raping an 8-year-old girl until she vomited and then made her clean it up'

By Ariel Zilber
Daily Mail
March 16, 2019

https://dailym.ai/2Hr6o1w

Sabine Griego, 81, was arrested on Tuesday by authorities in New Mexico

Griego is currently being held without bond at the San Miguel County Detention Center in Las Vegas, New Mexico

Griego has been implicated in at least eight cases that have been closed. He is believed to have raped dozens of children

A former priest raped an 8-year-old girl nearly 30 years ago to the point where she vomited - only to then force her to clean up the mess, it has been alleged.

Sabine Griego, 81, was arrested on Tuesday at his New Mexico home for the alleged assault and other rapes involving the girl.

Griego, a resident of Las Vegas, New Mexico, has been charged with one count of sexual penetration of a minor and coercion resulting in great bodily harm and mental anguish.

The charges are just the latest allegations against Griego, who has also been accused of sexually assaulting more than 30 children over decades while in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Between 1993 and 1995, Griego was implicated in eight closed cases. He was put on leave from the church in 1993, but it wasn’t until 2005 that he was formally dismissed from clerical duties.

Griego is currently being held without bond at the San Miguel County Detention Center in Las Vegas.

Authorities allege that the archdiocese knew of the latest rape allegations made by the girl, ‘Jane Doe A’, for at least 15 years.

The arrest want cites a 2004 letter, which was marked ‘confidential,’ and signed by then-Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan.

The letter provides ‘direct evidence’ that the rape occurred and that the archdiocese discovered it after conducting its own investigation.

In 2017, the archdiocese released a list of 78 priests that it said had been credibly accused of sexual abuse against children.

Griego began his clerical career at Cristo Rey Catholic Church in Santa Fe in 1964.

He then served in Albuquerque, Ruidoso, and Las Vegas.

Griego then returned to Queen of Heaven Church in Albuquerque, where the alleged assault against Jane Doe A took place.

The first alleged rape took place after Griego took the girl to the church rectory. He told her that they would ‘play a special game,’ authorities allege.

It was during the assault that the girl vomited and was then forced to clean up the mess, authorities allege.

The girl told investigators that Griego raped her numerous times and that on a few occasions he made her drink wine.

Griego is also alleged to have used a wooden spoon to assault and beat her.

Griego is alleged to have targeted the girl when she was just in second grade at Queen of Heaven Catholic School.

She told investigators that Griego would spend time with her after school and over lunch.

He also offered her ‘weird black Halloween candy,’ police allege.

On one occasion, Griego began to allegedly rape her, knocking her to the floor and covering her mouth.

She then bit his hand, prompting Griego to slap her. He then continued with the rape.

A year later, during another rape, Griego got angry with the girl and slammed her face into a table, resulting in a broken nose, police allege.

She was taken to a hospital and treated. She told her mother she broke her nose during physical education class.

Investigators obtained X-rays from Lovelace Hospital from November 1991, when the alleged rape occurred.

The X-rays confirm the girl suffered trauma to her nose.

The alleged victim was interviewed by authorities this past October, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

She said she did not report the priest because he threatened to kill her, cut out her tongue, or harm her mother.

Griego eventually left Queen of Heaven when the girl was in fourth grade.

She only told her parents about what happened when she was 13 years old.

By that point, she began having nightmares and started to harm herself.

But law enforcement only learned about the alleged rape last year.

Police also said they obtained a legal document dated 1994.

The document indicates that Griego was reported to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe by another priest.

According to Griego’s LinkedIn profile, he studied medical ethics as a postgraduate at the University of New Mexico.

From 2000 until 2017, he worked as a professor at Luna Community College, not far from his home.