“This is an active investigation so the department cannot release information,” Brogger said. “The accusation was originally reported in 2018, and more information prompted the police department to reopen the case.”

The priest is assigned to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and was contracted at the time of the alleged abuse as the chaplain at the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament convent, said Janet Jones, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Victoria, in a news release.

He has never worked for the Diocese of Victoria but did have permission to minister here, she said in the news release.

Nazareth Academy, an independent Catholic school, is owned and operated by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. It is approved to operate within the Diocese of Victoria.

The Catholic Church requires any allegations of abuse to be reported, according to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston website.

Failure to report abuse is also a crime under Texas law.

“The professional shall make a report not later than the 48th hour after the hour the professional first suspects that the child has been or may be abused or neglected or is a victim of an offense ... A professional may not delegate to or rely on another person to make the report,” the law reads.

In January 2019, Brendan Cahill, the bishop of the Diocese of Victoria, named the Revs. David L. Collela, Alfred Prado and Guido Miguel Quiroz Reyes as being “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a minor during their assignments in the 1980s.

These priests were named in a report released concerning allegations of sexual abuse.