Man allegedly sexually abused by priest sues El Paso Diocese for more than $1 million

By Aaron Martinez And Trish Long
El Paso Times
February 19, 2019

https://bit.ly/2GQRbFV

Jan. 26, 1985 - The Rev. Jaime Madrid says some "half-digsted" ideas are being used as an excuse by those who advocate violence.

Former El Paso priest Miguel Luna stands before Judge Maria Salas-Mendoza at a hearing Wednesday in the 120th District Court. Luna is charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and three counts each of sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child -sexual contact. Photo by Aaron Martinez

A man who claims he was repeatedly sexually abused by an El Paso priest in the early 1970s is suing the El Paso Catholic Diocese for more than $1 million in damages.

The suit, filed Feb. 12, claims the Rev. Jaime Madrid abused the then 12-year-old boy at at a local school, at the seminary, at a motel and in the priest’s car.

The victim, who is only identified in court records as John Doe, is represented by prominent Texas lawyers Lori Watson and Hal Browne.

“Obviously we are trying to get compensation for our client for all the trauma he suffered, ...” Browne said. “We have been in several of these cases in El Paso … It has become clear to us that the Diocese had longtime institutional knowledge of the fact that there were abusive priests in the Diocese.”

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who was named in the lawsuit but said he had not personally seen it, declined to comment on the suit, saying only that diocese’s lawyers had received it Friday and were still going through it.

Madrid, who died in 2007, was among the 30 priests named by the El Paso diocese as credibly accused of sexual abuse in a list released Jan. 31. The El Paso diocese list was part of a coordinated investigation by the dioceses in Texas in response to a nationwide scandal. 

“Jaime Madrid, while a Catholic priest working in the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso, had a psychosexual disorder characterized by an abnormal, impulsive sexual attraction to boys,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant Diocese, as well as Jaime Madrid himself, knew or should have known of Jaime Madrid’s perverse proclivities and illegal behavior prior to the abuses complained of herein."

The lawsuit claims the diocese should have known that Madrid was unfit for any "position of trust and confidence," and should never have been allowed "unsupervised access to youngsters such as John Doe."

According to the lawsuit, the victim and his siblings attended St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, where the victim served as an altar server for Madrid. The victim also attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School and played guitar during celebration of Mass.

The suit claims Madrid sexually abused the victim for about a year from 1970 to 1971 while the victim was an altar server. The abuse began during the victim's training, the suit says.

Madrid “raped and sexually molested John Doe repeatedly,” the lawsuit states. According to the suit, the assaults happened at St. Joseph’s church and rectory, St. Charles Seminary, in Madrid’s car and at a motel.

The victim is seeking more than $1 million for past and future medical and counseling expenses, as well as the physical pain and suffering he went through and severe mental anguish. “In all reasonable probability, (he) will sustain severe mental anguish in the future,” the lawsuit states.

“Since he has had a recall of the events and as you can imagine it is an extremely traumatic experience to relive,” Browne said. “He has had all kinds of problems.”

Watson added, “He has suffered nightmares, anxiety and various issues like that which a lot of victims of sexual abuse suffer from when having to relive that trauma. He has been struggling to put the pieces together and live his life.”

The lawsuit also claims that because of the abuse, the victim has suffered physical impairment, and has lost earning capacity and earnings.

“Our hope is that the diocese will do the right thing,” Browne said. “Obviously, they need to have their day in court and the credibility of this claim will be proven true. They need to understand the trauma he has experienced. They need to do the right thing and try to compensate him for what he has gone through and what he will continue to go through for the rest of his life."

A survivors organization, the Bishop Accountability group, keeps a database of all the Catholic clergy members accused of sexual abuse. According to its records, Madrid had previously confessed in 1992 that he had sexually abused a boy for 20 years.

“It is known that he confessed to Bishop Raymond Pena that he abused another prior victim,” Browne said.

A civil suit in that case was settled and did not go to trial. The settlement reached in that case is sealed.

The information released by the El Paso Diocese last month indicated that Madrid was ordained in 1972. However, according to an article published in the El Paso Times on July 20, 1969, Madrid was ordained Dec. 20, 1968, at a ceremony held at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Another El Paso Times article, published Sept. 24, 1969, states that he officiated a funeral Mass at St Joseph’s Catholic Church.

Diocese records obtained by the El Paso Times show that Madrid began serving at a church in Alpine in 1972.

The diocese listed Madrid’s status as inactive, but did not state whether he passed away.

Seitz said Monday that the diocese is reviewing records as new information about priests' ordinations and current status is revealed.

He acknowledged that Madrid had died, despite the Jan. 31 release not including that information.

According to the diocese, Madrid was laicized, which is when a priest has been dismissed from his clerical state, in 2007 — the year he passed away.

Madrid, who was originally from Redford, Texas, attended El Paso Tech school, where he graduated as the valedictorian of his class. He then went on to study at Texas Tech University for two years before going to St. Joseph's Seminary in Conception, Missouri, according to El Paso Times archives.

He also studied for four years at the Vatican's Gregorian University in Rome.

Browne and Watson have represented several victims of sexually abusive El Paso area priests.

Their cases have involved the Rev. Dennis Tejada, the Rev. Alfonso Madrid and the Rev. Irving Klister — all of whom were on the list released by the diocese last month.

In all of the cases, the diocese settled the lawsuits with the victims before going to trial.

The settlement agreements are sealed to protect the identity of the victims and to “prevent further emotional distress” to the victims, Watson said.

Another El Paso priest, Miguel Luna, is awaiting a criminal trial in connection with an alleged sexual abuse of an altar server from 1991 to 1998, according to court documents.

The victim was 8 years old when the alleged sexual abuse began and was 12 when Luna started to rape her, documents state.

Luna was arrested June 11. He faces six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and three counts each of sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child-sexual contact.

Luna's trial is set for April 5.

Luna was also on the list of priests released by the El Paso Diocese.

The El Paso Times reported after Luna’s arrest in 2018 that he served in several El Paso churches, including Blessed Sacrament, Corpus Christi, Our Lady of Assumption, San Antonio de Padua and St. Pius.

El Paso court records do not show a civil suit against Luna.