WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald-Republic
By Donald W. Meyers / Yakima Herald-Republic
dmeyers@yakimaherald.com
YAKIMA, Wash. — Bishop Emeritus Carlos Sevilla testified Wednesday under questioning in federal court that he once described what happened between a deacon and a Zillah teen in 1999 as “sexual assault.”
The questioning came from Bryan Smith, who is representing the teen, known as John Doe, in a $3 million civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Yakima for allegedly failing to properly check Deacon Aaron Ramirez’s background before accepting him as a candidate for the priesthood. The lawsuit also alleges church officials failed to supervise him while he was in the diocese.
Smith asked Sevilla in court about a phone call with Ramirez in Wenatchee after the 1999 incident in a trailer at Zillah’s Resurrection Catholic Church.
In the call, Sevilla — who had been made aware of the situation while vacationing in California — asked Ramirez what happened.
“He described it as mutual masturbation,” Sevilla said of Ramirez.
Smith then confronted Sevilla: “You described it as sexual assault.”
Sevilla repeated Ramirez’s description of the incident.
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