Fr. Walter Edward Cassidy

A man and woman filed separate lawsuits in mid-2013 alleging sexual abuse by Cassidy, who worked in parishes in Albuquerque, Taos and Mora. The suits were reportedly settled at some point before 5/2014. Another man filed suit in 5/2014 alleging abuse by Cassidy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in northwest Albuquerque in the late 1960s. The plaintiff says he was sexually abused between 50-80 times as a 10-year-old boy. In a suit filed in 11/2014, Cassidy was accused of molesting an 8- to 10-year-old girl in the late 1960s, on a church bus while he was driving and she was in his lap. The Archdiocese knew of allegations against Cassidy by 1993 but never made them public. He died in 1994. Included on the Archdiocese’s list of accused 9/12/2017. Per a 2019 proof of claim in the Archdiocese’s bankruptcy, Cassidy sexually abused an 8-year-old girl in 1965, on the church bus and in a confessional. She reported the abuse to the Archdiocese in 1993. In another 2019 proof of claim, Cassidy is accused of sexually abusing a girl, ages 7-9, during 1965-1966, on the church bus and in the parish rectory basement. Cassidy allegedly would choose one girl each day to sit on his lap while he drove the bus. This claimant said that he would digitally penetrate her and play with her breasts, pinning her down in his lap with one arm.