LAS CRUCES (NM)
Albuquerque Journal [Albuquerque NM]
July 26, 2025
By Algernon D'Ammassa
Eight new lawsuits alleging past sexual abuse by priests who served in southern New Mexico parishes were filed this month in New Mexico’s 3rd Judicial District.
The civil complaints name the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces and/or the Catholic Diocese of El Paso as defendants along with individual parishes: Our Lady of Health in Las Cruces, Our Lady of Purification in Doña Ana, Immaculate Conception in Alamogordo, Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tortugas Pueblo in Mesilla Park, St. Anthony in Anthony and St. Eleanor in Ruidoso.
The plaintiffs, who are anonymous in court filings, include men and women claiming the sexual abuse happened from the 1950s to the 1990s, when they were between the ages of 3 and 15.
“We are shocked by the number of victims and the ages of the victims who continue to step out of the shadows,” Levi Monagle, one of the lead attorneys bringing the lawsuits to court, said in a written statement. “The abuse perpetrated by these priests is repulsive. And that this went on for so long and involved so many priests is completely unjustifiable.”
Monagle’s firm, Huffman Wallace and Monagle, joined the Davis Kelin Law Firm in filing the complaints, seeking compensation for the church’s failure to keep the victims safe.
Two priests named in the complaints — Bernard Bissonnette and David Holley — came to New Mexico by way of the Servants of the Paraclete Center in Jemez Springs, according to the plaintiffs. The center has been purported to be a location where priests accused of sexual abuse complaints in other parishes were sent for “treatment” and assigned to new parishes where they had contact with children.
The complaints state that Bissonnette and Holley were reassigned with little supervision, despite the past accusations.
The complaint naming Holley describes abuse allegedly taking place while he was serving at the Immaculate Conception parish in Alamogordo. According to archived Associated Press reports, Holley served as a priest for 30 years and was convicted in 1993 for molesting young boys in Alamogordo, receiving a 275-year prison sentence. Holley has also been named in numerous civil lawsuits.
The new plaintiff, identified as Joe Doe 211, says Holley committed “frequent and brutal” sexual abuse against him from 1975 to 1976, beginning when Doe was 10 years old, allegedly using alcohol to incapacitate him before forcing him to engage in sex.
“As a child, Plaintiff blamed himself for complicity in the abuse and said nothing about it,” the lawsuit states.
The Las Cruces Diocese did not respond to queries from the Journal. The El Paso Diocese issued a statement acknowledging it was aware of the lawsuits and refrained from commenting on pending litigation, while attesting that it has implemented training and “best practices” across clergy, staff and volunteers under “Safe Environment protocols.”
“The Diocese of El Paso works very diligently to cooperate with all parties involved when cases like this are brought forward,” the statement continued. “The diocese takes all matters of abuse as grave and serious situations and will work to ensure that justice is served.”
Reckoning with historic abuse
Between 2004 and 2023, Catholic dioceses and other institutions of the church in the U.S. paid out $3.6 billion in settlements with victims, according to a recent study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe settled nearly 400 claims of clergy abuse in a $121 million bankruptcy reorganization plan approved in 2022.
The Las Cruces Diocese was founded in 1982, taking over local parishes previously under the El Paso Diocese and Santa Fe Archdiocese.
The new lawsuits were filed less than three months after the installation of Pope Leo XIV, who has signaled a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse in the church worldwide.
Monagle credited the international church’s new leader for “implementing transparent processes and sincere listening to those who have been hurt within the church,” while asserting the need for accountability as well: “Real transparency also requires accountability, and reaching out for help is the first step in seeking justice for these crimes against children.”
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), on the other hand, criticized the pope for his own track record in addressing abuse. The organization has called for an independent global truth commission, greater transparency and accountability for how the church confronts abuse and reparations for victims.
“Despite vague references to supporting zero tolerance, Pope Leo has yet to take any real action or respond meaningfully to the serious abuse cases unfolding on his watch,” the organization stated. “For survivors, it feels like more of the same: empty words, no accountability, and a pope that still refuses to do what it takes to stop abuse and cover-up.”