What We Know about the Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors in Corpus Christi
By Alexandria Rodriguez
Rev. John Fiala, SOLT The Diocese of Corpus Christi said in its list that the Rev. John Fiala spent time in the area as part of a religious order. He was ordained in the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity in 1984. A lawsuit filed in 2010 against the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Omaha and the religious accused a Fiala of sexual misconduct, according to the San Antonio Express-News. He was accused of raping a teen at gunpoint and was later indicted on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault by threat, according to the Express-News. Fiala was convicted to 60 years in prison for plotting to kill the boy who accused him of multiple sexual assaults. He died in prison in 2017, the Diocese said. It is unknown when Fiala spent time in Corpus Christi. Rev. Patrick Koch, SJ Patrick Koch was ordained into the Society of Jesus in 1957, according to the Diocese's list. He spent time in the Diocese of Corpus Christi before leaving in 1966. He later became principal of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas from 1972 to 1979. He was president in 1979 to 1980 and was director of alumni from 1980 to 1986, according to the school's website. Koch died in 2006.
Rev. Eusebio Pantoja Eusebio Pantoja was ordained in the Claretian Missionaries in 1968. He was removed from ministry in the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1980. Pantoja and the religious order were sued in 2003 for allegations of abuse in 1970 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Chicago and at his home, according to the Chicago Tribune. The victim was about 14 years old. Pantoja was assigned to a parish in Mexico at the time of the lawsuit, the article states. Rev. Alfredo Prado, OMI Alfredo Prado was ordained in the Oblate of Mary Immaculate in 1958. In 2004, a man filed a lawsuit in a California court alleging Prado molested him in 1967, the Houston Chronicle reported. The man, who was 14 at the time, said Prado got him drunk and raped him, the Chronicle reported. Prado was suspended in 1991. He also was stripped of priestly authority and ordered into a church psychiatric treatment facility, the Chronicle reported. Prado, 73, was later stripped of his priestly authority by the Oblates over undisclosed actions and ordered into a church psychiatric treatment facility. It is unknown when Prado was in Corpus Christi or where he assigned. Rev. Christopher Joseph Springer, CSSR Christopher Springer was ordained into the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1952. Federal court records show that Springer was sued by two men in 2009 for "sexual activity" with young boys in Texas and Louisiana. He was placed on leave for six months in 1972, records show. Springer left Diocese of Corpus Christi 1971. It is unknown where he was assigned.
Msgr. Hugh Clarke Hugh Clarke was incardinated into the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1975. In 2011, the diocese reached a $1.2 million settlement after three men sued the diocese alleging Clarke sexually assaulted them, according to a 2011 Caller-Times article. The men said Clarke assaulted them in the church rectory and school while he was a pastor Christ the King Church from 1972 to 1975. The suit also alleged the diocese knew Clarke was in psychiatric care in a mental hospital in the 1960s and 1980s, the article states. Clarke retired in 1997 and died in 2002. Rev. Stephen T. Dougherty Stephen Dougherty was incardinated into the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 2008. He was
The victim, who was 13 years old at the time, told police Dougherty raped her in 2011 at her grandparents' house in the Beeville area. Doughterty was indicted for aggravated sexual assault in Bee County in 2016. He was convicted in 60 years in prison in March 2018. He's eligible for parole after half that sentence is served and must pay a $10,000 fine. Rev. John J. Feminelli John Feminelli was ordained into the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1987. In 1988, a couple filed a lawsuit against the diocese and Bishop Rene H. Gracida claiming diocese employees circulated false information about their 15-year-old son, according to a 1988 Caller-Times article. Feminelli was accused of buying the boy gifts in exchange for "wrestling matches" in a motel room. The suit alleged slander and libel stating Gracida and other priests humiliated the family, causing the boy to recant, the article states. No wrestling matches took place, the boy said in court. More: Police report: Kingsville furniture store owner, 38, accused of abusing boy at store The boy said he met Feminelli in 1987 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church when Feminelli was a deacon awaiting to be ordained as a priest.
Feminelli retired in 2007. Feminelli has been seen in Facebook photos with Corpus Christi Fire Department members in traditional clergy attire. It is unclear if Feminelli is acting as a priest since his retirement. Rev. Clement Hageman Clement Hageman was ordained in Indianapolis in 1930. In 2010, a 70-year-old Phoenix man sued the Dioceses of Corpus Christi and Gallup and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe alleging Hageman abused him in the 1950s, according to a 2010 Caller-Times article. The complaint stated Hageman sexually abused boys in the 1930s in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He was removed from the diocese in 1939. Hageman died in 1975. Msgr. Michael Heras Michael Heras was ordained into the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1984.
In June 2014, complaints of inappropriate conduct were submitted to the Nueces and San Patricio County district attorney's offices. Heras was immediately placed on leave pending an investigation by the diocese. The alleged conduct took place about 25 to 30 years before the complaint was submitted, according to a 2014 Caller-Times article. No criminal investigations were pursued and Heras resigned as pastor of St. Peter Prince of the Apostle's Parish in Corpus Christi. Nueces County court records show a civil suit was filed October 2018 against Heras, Bishop Michael Mulvey and the diocese. The plantiff in the pending case is listed as "J Doe 2." The diocese said Heras was removed from ministry in June 2014. Rev. Jesus Garcia Hernando Jesus Garcia Hernando was incardinated into the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1994. Hernando, a former Mathis priest, was indicted on charges of sexual assault and indecency with a child in a 1992 incident involving a 15-year-old boy. The boy said he was sexually assaulted in the rectory of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mathis, a 1996 Caller-Times article states. Hernando was living in Spain and was picked up by San Patricio County Sheriff's Office officials at Houston Intercontinental Airport and taken to San Patricio County Jail. A lawsuit accuses Hernando of molesting at least two other men from 1991 to 1994. He was removed from the Diocese in 1994. Msgr. Thomas L. Meany Thomas Meany was ordained into the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1955.
In 2010, a lawsuit was filed against the diocese alleging "repeated sexual abuse of a teenage male" in the 1980s, according to court records. The diocese issued a statement about the incident saying both parties were adults. The victim, who filed the lawsuit when he was in his 50s, said he spent a month at Austin State Hospital in 1971. He was sent to Corpus Christi to look for work when he sought a place to stay at Holy Cross Rectory. Meany fed him and took him to Aransas Pass to look for work on a fishing boat, records show. Meany made sexual advances and the two engaged in a sexual relationship through 1982, records show. Meany retired from the diocese in 2004 and died in 2008.
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