HAWAII
West Hawaii Today

By TOM CALLIS

Tribune-Herald staff writer
tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com

Attorneys have filed a lawsuit on behalf of two men accusing Father George DeCosta, a revered Big Island priest, of sexually abusing two boys while he worked as a chaplain at a Catholic school on Oahu.

The alleged abuse occurred during the late 1960s at Damien Memorial High School, according to the suit filed Friday in Hawaii First District Court.

DeCosta worked as the parish priest at Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church in Keaukaha for three decades before retiring in 2002. He now lives in Volcano.

The allegations of abuse were first made last August when the plaintiffs filed a claim for damages against the Christian Brothers of Ireland, which operates the school, in federal bankruptcy court.