Search Results for: laROSA

HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU

November 17, 2020

By Jeremy Rogalski

Manuel LaRosa-Lopez is scheduled for a formal sentencing on Dec. 16.

Conroe TX – A former Conroe priest at the center of a sex abuse scandal involving children is headed to prison.

Manuel LaRosa-Lopez has pled guilty to two counts of indecency with a child, and according to prosecutors Tuesday, has agreed to serve 10 years in prison.

He is scheduled for a formal sentencing on Dec. 16.

LaRosa-Lopez was charged back in May 2019. He is accused of abusing children while he was a priest at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.

“It is incredibly rare for clergy abusers to see jail time for their crimes and we applaud the brave victims who came forward to ensure that this dangerous man would face justice,” Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said in a statement. “We believe…

HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU

November 17, 2020

By Jeremy Rogalski

Manuel LaRosa-Lopez is scheduled for a formal sentencing on Dec. 16.

Conroe TX – A former Conroe priest at the center of a sex abuse scandal involving children is headed to prison.

Manuel LaRosa-Lopez has pled guilty to two counts of indecency with a child, and according to prosecutors Tuesday, has agreed to serve 10 years in prison.

He is scheduled for a formal sentencing on Dec. 16.

LaRosa-Lopez was charged back in May 2019. He is accused of abusing children while he was a priest at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.

“It is incredibly rare for clergy abusers to see jail time for their crimes and we applaud the brave victims who came forward to ensure that this dangerous man would face justice,” Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said in a statement. “We believe…

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has added more priests to the list of credibly accused clergy.

The original list in 2019 named local priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors from 1950 to 2018.

The updated list now includes Manuel La Rosa Lopez who pleaded guilty to indecency with a child last December. La Rosa Lopez was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

His victims were teenagers at the Sacred Hearth Catholic Church in Conroe who waited 20 years for justice. Two of them sued The Vatican for $20 million.

The other three died decades ago, according to the Archdiocese. John Patrick Barry, C.S.B., Franz B. Lickteig, O.Carm. and William “Herb” Schreiner, C.S.B. were members of Religious Orders based outside of the Archdiocese but serving within its geographic boundaries.

A credible allegation is one which there is reason to believe is true, based on reasonably available information, in…

A civil complaint filed in Albuquerque alleges a former Las Cruces Catholic priest sexually abused a teenage girl in the 1970s.

The Rev. Jesus Goni was a pastor at St. Genevieve’s Catholic Church at the time of the alleged incident.

The plaintiff, who is identified as Jane Doe 43 in the lawsuit, accuses Goni of ordering her into his office in approximately May 1970 and inappropriately touching her. She was about 14 years old at the time. She was brought up to obey priests and did not think she would be believed if she told anyone what had been done to her, the lawsuit stated, and kept the incident secret “for many years.”

This is believed to be the first accusation of sexual abuse against Goni. According to the St. Genevieve’s website, Goni became an assistant pastor in 1965 and head pastor in 1970. It appears that he left the…

A civil complaint filed Thursday in Albuquerque alleges a former Las Cruces Catholic priest sexually abused a teenage girl in the 1970s. 

Fr. Jesus Goni was a pastor at St. Genevieve’s Catholic Church at the time of the alleged incident.

The plaintiff, who is identified as Jane Doe 43 in the lawsuit, accuses Goni of ordering her into his office in approximately May 1970 and inappropriately touching her. She was about 14 years old at the time. She was brought up to obey priests and did not think she would be believed if she told anyone what had been done to her, the lawsuit stated, and kept the incident secret “for many years.”

This is believed to be the first accusation of sexual abuse against Goni. According to St. Genevieve’s website, Goni became an assistant pastor in 1965 and head pastor in 1970. It appears that he left the church by 1974. 

The plaintiff is…

LAS CRUCES (NM)
Sun-News

August 4, 2020

By Leah Romero and Damien Willis

Two Catholic priests were accused Tuesday of child sexual abuse in southern New Mexico.

Civil complaints were filed against the two priests, as well as the Las Cruces and El Paso dioceses and the parishes where the alleged sexual abuse occurred.

Fr. Roderick Nichols and Fr. Damian Gamboa were named in the alleged abuse of John Doe and Jane Doe.

According to court documents, John Doe alleges Nichols abused him in the early 1990s when the alleged victim was about 13 years old. At the time, Nichols was the pastor and administrator of St. Vincent De Paul Parish in Silver City. He was formerly listed as a chaplain for jail and prison ministry, but according to the diocese directory for 2020, Nichols is a retired diocesan priest.

Jane Doe alleges Gamboa abused her in the early…

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

July 17, 2019

An allegedly abusive priest from Conroe County is due in court on Thursday for the next phase of his trial. We believe that church officials can and should spare his victims the pain of that trial and should encourage the priest to plead guilty instead.

Fr. Manuel LaRosa Lopez will be back in court on Thursday following his indictment in May on three counts of indecency with a child. He has now been charged with five counts from three separate victims. The incidents for the five counts occurred in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. There is also a fourth victim who went to the Archdiocese of Galveston/Houston in 1992 with an accusation, but this incident occurred outside of the window of the Statute of Limitations. If the church had been responsible at that time, they…

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

May 13, 2019

Earlier this month, a Conroe County Grand Jury indicted allegedly abusive priest Fr. Manuel LaRosa Lopez. Today, that case moves forward.

We hope that this trial will encourage other survivors in Texas to come forward, make a report to law enforcement, and find independent sources of healing. We also hope that this trial sends the message that, while one case may be moving in Conroe County, more work is desperately needed throughout Texas to protect children and vulnerable adults and to support survivors of sexual violence.

We are encouraging Texans across the state to take three steps that can make a difference:

First, contact Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and urge to him to follow in the footsteps of nineteen other attorneys general around the country and open an investigation into clergy sex abuse. AG Paxton…

HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU TV

January 24, 2019

By Jeremy Rogalski

“Houston, we have a problem.”

That is how SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, titled a local meeting Thursday, one week before the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is expected to release a list of all priests credibly accused of sexually abusing a child.

“I believe it won’t be complete,” said Michael Norris, leader of the Houston chapter of SNAP.

Norris cited other cases of abuse underreporting, such as the Diocese of Buffalo and dioceses in Pennsylvania and Illinois, where outside investigations revealed many more priests accused then originally reported by the Church.

He also criticized the handling of Father Manuel LaRosa Lopez, a local priest arrested in September on four counts of indecency with a child. One of his accusers blamed Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who oversees the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, for not removing LaRosa Lopez from ministry…

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

November 28, 2018

By Samantha Ketterer

Authorities on Wednesday searched the offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston for additional evidence in the case of a Conroe priest accused of sexual misconduct, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

The search targets included evidence of “secret archives” that exist at the archdiocese, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said.

“The good thing is, I’ve taken the burden off everybody in the Catholic Church,” he said. “They don’t have to know anything. I’m going to find it all.”

The search is in connection with former Conroe priest Manuel Larosa-Lopez, who was arrested Sept. 11 on four counts of indecency with a child for alleged sexual misconduct going back to 1998.

The alleged abuse lasted for at least three years and targeted a boy and a girl who attended the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, according…

HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU 11

November 28, 2018

By Jeremy Rogalski

Armed with a search warrant, various law enforcement agencies are searching for records pertaining to clergy sex abuse.

Armed with a search warrant, a team of law enforcement agencies searched the offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Wednesday, looking for records related to the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

The unprecedented action in Texas was taken by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, along with the Texas Rangers and Conroe Police Department. Nearly 50 investigators arrived Wednesday morning carrying boxes inside the Chancery, located at 1700 San Jacinto Street in downtown Houston.

The DA’s office said investigators were looking for documents in connection to the criminal case of Father Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, the priest charged in September on four counts of indecency with a child. In the search warrant filed Wednesday, the DA’s…

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

November 28, 2018

We applaud Texas law enforcement officials for raiding the “secret archives” of the Houston Catholic archdiocese. All too often, police and prosecutors pursue child molesting clerics but ignore the church supervisors and co-workers who hide their crimes.

Today’s raid was in response to the handling of the Fr. Manual LaRosa-Lopez case by Houston church officials. Perhaps if Cardinal Daniel DiNardo had reported the allegations against Fr. LaRosa-Lopez to law enforcement when he first heard of them this raid would not have been necessary. We cannot help but wonder what will be revealed in these secret files, but are glad that the Montgomery County prosecutor’s office will now have new information to work from.

HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU TV

November 28, 2018

By Jeremy Rogalski

Armed with a search warrant, a team of law enforcement agencies raided the offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Wednesday, searching for records related to the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Catholic church.

The unprecedented action in Texas was taken by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, along with the Texas Rangers and Conroe Police Department.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said investigators were looking for documents in connection to the criminal case of Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, the priest charged in September on four counts of indecency with a child. A man and a woman claimed they were abused as teenagers between 1998 and 2001 at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Public Radio

By Alvaro Ortiz

October 9, 2018

Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, the former Conroe priest accused of child molestation, was arraigned Tuesday morning at the Montgomery County Courthouse.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has charged LaRosa-Lopez with four counts of indecency with a child. Two people have accused the priest and he has received two charges per accuser.

A third person came forward last week accusing LaRosa-Lopez of molesting him when he was an altar boy in the mid 1990s.

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Public Media

October 4, 2018

By Alvaro Ortiz

A third accuser of a Conroe priest who is under investigation for child abuse has come forward.

The law firm Schiffer Hicks Johnson said in a statement they’ve been hired “to represent what is now a third victim of sexual abuse by Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez.”

The firm detailed that the client –who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being– “was an adolescent altar boy in the mid-1990s at a church in Houston when he was subjected to several acts of inappropriate behavior by Mr. La Rosa-Lopez, who was then a seminarian studying for the priesthood.”

According to the statement, the boy “told his guardians about the abuse at the time, and they alerted a supervising priest, but no action was taken. Instead, La Rosa-Lopez was ordained.”

The third accuser decided to come forward after hearing reports…

HOUSTON (TX)
SNAP Network

October 2, 2018

For immediate release, October 2 2018

A Houston-area priest was recently arrested for sexual abusing a child. Reports from the AP and other news outlets show that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston had been specifically warned about Fr. Manuel LaRosa-Lopez. Unfortunately, those warnings went unheeded.

According to reports, when they were first contacted about Fr. LaRosa-Lopez by one of LaRosa’s victims, the church told her that he would be removed from active ministry. Instead, they moved him to another parish, 70 miles away. Despite knowing about credible allegations of abuse against him, no parishioners, staff, or others were warned.

Ten months ago, the church was contacted again about Fr. LaRosa-Lopez, this time by a different victim. Archbishop DiNardo met with the victim personally but only removed Fr. LaRosa-Lopez a week before his arrest. When he finally was removed from ministry, rather than be…

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

September 28, 2018

By Nicole Hensley

A former Conroe priest facing decades-old child molestation accusations has been staying at a gated retirement community in southwest Houston while out on bail, according to officials.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has been housing Manuel Larosa-Lopez at the St. Dominic Village along Holcombe Boulevard after he was released on a $375,000 bond two weeks ago, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office confirmed. The property is fenced off save for a guarded driveway.

The diocese touts the village, which includes a senior home and about a dozen apartments for retired priests south of the Brays Bayou, as providing “all the comforts of home” on its website.

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

September 28, 2018

By Nicole Hensley

A former Conroe priest facing decades-old child molestation accusations has been staying at a gated retirement community in southwest Houston while out on bail, according to officials.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has been housing Manuel Larosa-Lopez at the St. Dominic Village along Holcombe Boulevard after he was released on a $375,000 bond two weeks ago, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office confirmed. The property is fenced off save for a guarded driveway.

The diocese touts the village, which includes a senior home and about a dozen apartments for retired priests south of the Brays Bayou, as providing “all the comforts of home” on its website.

SPOKANE (WA)
The Associated Press

September 12, 2018

By Nomaan Merchant

HOUSTON (AP) – As U.S. Catholic leaders head to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis about a growing church abuse crisis, the cardinal leading the delegation has been accused by two people of not doing enough to stop a priest who was arrested this week on sexual abuse charges.

The two people told The Associated Press that they reported the priest and met with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of them says she was promised in a meeting with DiNardo that the priest would be removed from any contact with children, only to discover that the priest remained in active ministry at another parish 70 miles away.

The priest, Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, was arrested Tuesday by police in Conroe, Texas. Both people who spoke to the AP are cooperating with police.

HOUSTON (TX)
Associated Press

September 12, 2018

By Nomaan Merchant

As U.S. Catholic leaders head to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis about a growing church abuse crisis, the cardinal leading the delegation has been accused by two people of not doing enough to stop a priest who was arrested this week on sexual abuse charges.

The two people told The Associated Press that they reported the priest and met with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of them says she was promised in a meeting with DiNardo, several years after she first reported abuse, that the priest would be removed from any contact with children, only to discover that the priest remained in active ministry at another parish 70 miles away.

The priest, Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, was arrested Tuesday by police in Conroe, Texas. Both people who spoke to the AP are cooperating with police.

…

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, September 9, 2016,

ALBANY — The upstate investor who created a political action committee to advocate for child sex victims is backing candidates in 12 state primaries this coming Tuesday.

Gary Greenberg, who was sexually abused as a child, has used the Fighting for Children PAC he created earlier this year to help fund and support the different candidates who support the Child Victims Act that remains bottled up in the Legislature.

Greenberg has held three rallies across the state — including one in New York City Thursday for Marisol Alcantara and Carmen de LaRosa. Alcantara is involved in a four-way Democratic state Senate primary in upper Manhattan, while de LaRosa is challenging incumbent Democrat Assemblyman Guillermo Linares in the same area.

Greenberg was also supposed to hold a rally in Rochester Friday for…