HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU-TV
December 14, 2018
By Jeremy Rogalski and Tina Macias
Most files are only identified by a last name, but among the few full names listed, at least six are priests who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct.
Bags of shredded documents, electronics and hundreds of files were among the items investigators seized from a Montgomery County treatment center as part of its sexual assault investigation into a local priest.
Listed among the items taken from the Shalom Center in Splendora in September are files for at least 200 people, according to an evidence log filed in the case and obtained by KHOU. The vast majority of the files are only identified by a last name, but among the few full names listed, at least six are priests who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct.
It’s unclear how many of the other people listed are priests or why they were seeking treatment. The Shalom Center offers residential, sabbatical and outpatient programs for priests, deacons and male and female members of a religious order.
The center has 20 residential beds and treats more than 400 people a year, according to the Official Catholic Directory. It offers treatment for, “psychological difficulties, interpersonal conflicts, emotional or sexual problems, grief and loss issues, stress and exhaustion, transitional trauma, sexual abuse, addictions,” according to its website.
Former Conroe priest Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, who’s facing four counts of indecency with a child, was treated at the Shalom Center in 2001, and documents about the center found in La Rosa-Lopez’s bedroom reference one of his accusers, according to the search warrant.
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