Search warrant reveals scope of priest sex abuse probe

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

November 29, 2018

By Nicole Hensley and Jay R. Jordan

A sweeping search warrant used to enter the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston was aimed at learning everything about the accused pedophile priest, Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, from his time as a seminarian to his final parish assignment in Richmond.

The search warrant affidavit released Thursday was what allowed local law enforcement officials to walk out of the church headquarters Wednesday on San Jacinto Street with several boxes of evidence. As their 12-hour hunt for records ended that night, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon called the search “fruitful.”

“We found several things specifically on point,” said Ligon, as investigators packed up.

Among the records being sought were the names of therapists who may have treated La Rosa-Lopez and what their opinion was after he underwent counseling in the early 2000s. A diary that La Rosa-Lopez was required to keep while working as a priest was on their list, but it eluded investigators at three prior raids at the Shalom Center in Splendora, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe and St. John Fisher Church in Richmond.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.