NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal
By T.S. Last / Journal Staff Writer on Wed, May 1, 2013
Three more men have filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and three of its parishes, alleging they were sexually molested by a priest in the 1970s and ’80s.
The priest is alleged to have initiated the abuse with massages, in one case using massage oil that he told his young victim had been blessed by the pope.
The lawsuits, filed in 2nd Judicial District Court in Bernalillo within the last week, come on the heels of a similar complaint filed against the archdiocese and St. Anthony Parish in Questa on April 2. They each accuse Rev. Michael O’Brien, now deceased, of sexual abuse while “grooming” them as altar boys.
Each lawsuit claims the archdiocese was negligent because it knew, or should have known, that O’Brien was a pedophile priest and did nothing to stop him, warn or provide counseling to the victims.
Though there was suspicion in each town about O’Brien’s relationship with boys, the archdiocese continued to assign him to northern New Mexico parishes in Las Vegas, N.M., Mora, Penasco, Questa and Taos, according to the complaints.
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