TEXAS
El Paso Times
By Diana Washington Valdez \ EL PASO TIMES
Posted: 07/14/2013
A lawsuit over a former El Paso priest accused of sexually molesting an altar boy and student in the 1970s was settled July 11, said Lori Watson, a lawyer in Dallas who represented the plaintiff.
“The plaintiff was 8 to 12 years old when he was sexually abused by Father Alphonso Madrid when Madrid was assigned to Sacred Heart Church and school in the El Paso Diocese,” Watson said. “Not unlike many victims, the plaintiff had repressed the memory of the abuse for many years, due to the trauma associated with the abuse.”
According to the lawsuit filed in 2011, the plaintiff, who was identified only as John Doe, suffered serious psychological problems due to the alleged abuse.
Watson alleged that church officials were aware that Madrid was a sexual predator who targeted children, and instead of removing him from positions of trust and reporting him to law enforcement, they covered up the incidents and transferred him around.
No one at the El Paso Catholic Diocese was available on Friday to comment on the settlement. The terms were undisclosed.
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