YAKIMA (WA)
Yakima Herald-Republic
Posted on December 17, 2012
By Jane Gargas
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — The Catholic Diocese of Yakima says it has offered counseling to two men who reported that they were abused in the early 1970s by a priest while he was visiting a Moses Lake parish.
In a news release issued this morning, diocesan officials encouraged any other potential victims to come forward. They said the alleged abuser, the late Rev. Hilario Ramírez, a visiting priest from Mexico, came to Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Moses Lake for a few weeks in the early 1970s. During his stay, Ramírez lived with at least two families, and is alleged to have abused four children, all boys ranging in age from 7 to 13. Two of the victims are deceased.
One of the surviving victims, who lives in Texas, provided basic information about the priest and alleged abuse to the diocese. A second reported victim lives in Washington state. Both men have been offered counseling.
Ramírez returned to Mexico after being treated for a stomach ulcer. Parishioners who stayed in contact with Ramírez told diocesan officials that he died in an automobile accident in Mexico in the early 1980s.
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