SILVER CITY (NM)
Silver City Daily Press
By Christine Steele
December 5, 2018
Last month, the Diocese of Las Cruces published the names of 28 priests who have been credibly
accused of sexual misconduct with minors and have served within the geographical boundary of the diocese. Among these are several priests who served in churches in Grant County, mostly during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The last priest served in 1990.
In addition to the names, the list also includes, if known, the dates of the alleged incidents, the date they were reported to the diocese, the status of the accused and the date and location of their assignments in the diocese.
The publication of the list of names comes after the diocese received a letter from New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas demanding “full disclosure and full transparency” following the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report with ties to New Mexico that details a massive cover-up of sexual abuse by priests in that state, according to an Aug. 14 story in the Washington Post.
In the letter to Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantu, Balderas wrote that like the Pennsylvania cases, most of the New Mexico cases would never be criminally prosecuted due to the statute of limitations having passed. But, he wrote, “Any complacency or silence in answer to misconduct must not be tolerated.”
In some instances, the abuse is alleged to have occurred prior to the Diocese of Las Cruces being established in 1982 or in another diocese altogether, but the individuals have been included because they served in the Diocese of Las Cruces at some point, the release said. Some of those identified have died and the rest have been removed from the ministry or retired.
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