SAN ANTONIO (TX)
MySA [San Antonio TX]
March 23, 2025
By Zachary-Taylor Wright
The archdiocese is fighting to keep the records private.
A San Antonio Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 70-year-old female parishioner is looking to obtain the personnel records of three other clergymen in what appears to be an attempt to help his court case. The Archdiocese of San Antonio, however, is fighting to keep the records private.
In September 2023, the Rev. George Mbugua Ndungu was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault after allegations of rape emerged from a private investigation ordered by the archdiocese. Ndungu was serving at St. Rose of Lima on the far Eastside when he was arrested.
Now, Ndungu’s defense attorney, Monica E. Guerrero, wants to pull personnel records for Revs. Eric Ritter, Kevin P. Faust and Michael English, all of whom served as pastors and priests at different parishes and even a Catholic school in San Antonio.
It is unclear how Guerrero plans to use the information or how its is related to the case but wants each man’s application for employment, disciplinary actions, including parish transfers, suspension orders, criminal complaints and counseling records related to complaints lodged against the clergymen.
The archdiocese says the subpoenas for records are “not favorable to the defense,” arguing that there’s no reason Ndungu’s defense attorney should need them in her effort to defend her client. It also says the records are protected by the Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine — a First Amendment protection preventing civil courts from intervening in ecclesiastical administration.
“[Ndungu] does not explain how testimony of the Archdiocese and production would be material to [his] case, nor does he explain how the testimony and production would be favorable to [his] case,” an objection to the subpoena reads. “The Archdiocese submits that the documents requested in the subpoenas do not relate do not relate to the elements [Ndungu] is charged, namely aggravated sexual assault.”
The two sides are set to battle it out before a judge in the 227th State District Court at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 24, at the Bexar County Courthouse. Ultimately, the judge will decide whether the personnel records are “favorable” to Ndungu’s case and whether the archdiocese must procure the documents.
The archdiocese transferred Ndungu around to multiple parishes in San Antonio before he landed at St. Rose of Lima.
After his arrest in 2023, he wasn’t indicted on three counts of sexual assault and one count of aggravated sexual assault until August 12, 2024. A warrant for his arrest obtained by MySA accuses him of sexually assaulting the parishioner on at least three occasions between November of 2022 and August of 2023.
According to court records, when Ndungu sought to have his GPS tracking monitor removed because he couldn’t afford the monthly fee, it was revealed the Catholic church paid his $150,000 bond. How much it actually shelled out to get him out from behind bars and send him to a “retreat” where he no longer works with parishioners is unclear.