NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal
By Mark Oswald / Journal Staff Writer
on Tue, Apr 2, 2013
A new lawsuit has been filed in state District Court alleging that a Roman Catholic parish priest in Questa sexually abused a 10-year-old or 11-year-old boy repeatedly over a period of a year and half in the 1980s.
The suit alleges that the Rev. Michael O’Brien abused the boy while assigned to St. Anthony Parish in Questa, north of Taos, where the victim’s parents wanted him to be an altar boy and the priest was known as “Father Mike.” The Archdiocese of Santa Fe and St. Anthony Parish are named as defendants.
Efforts by a Journal reporter to reach an archdiocese spokeswoman for comment today were not immediately successful.
The lawsuit says the victim of O’Brien’s “many counts of criminal sexual contact and penetration” went to the archdiocese in 2012, “seeking help.” The suit alleges he was told the archdiocese would pay for counseling for him “as long as he did not talk to a lawyer or bring a claim.”
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