Lawsuit Says Ex-Priest Admits Abusing Dozens
An Orange police report says he told of molesting at least 25 boys in the 1970s and 1980s

By Jim Hinch
Orange County Register
October 16, 2003

[See also "Forgive Me for Using You" and Chronology of Abuse Attributed to Ramos Begins in 1974.]

A former priest admitted molesting at least 25 boys at three parishes over more than a decade in the 1970s and 1980s, according to a police report included in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

It is the largest single case of admitted child abuse in the history of the Orange County diocese.

Father Eleuterio Ramos, who was suspended from priestly duties in 1991 and is currently being stripped of his collar, told Orange police in May that he fondled or molested boys as young as 11 at church rectories, movie theaters and motels.

Ramos can't be charged with a crime because a Supreme Court decision in July invalidated California's statute of limitations on sex crimes. After the court ruling, the Orange police ended a three-month investigation.

Diocese officials declined comment on Ramos' admissions or the lawsuit's allegations that the diocese covered up for the priest. Ramos, reached at his Pico Rivera home, also declined comment.