Fr. Manuel Gallo Espinoza

Visiting priest from Ecuador at St. Mary’s in Plainfield NJ. In 4/2003 a 15-year-old boy, who was a St. Mary’s youth group member, told his priest-cousin and a youth group leader Gallo Espinoza raped him in a parish rectory bedroom. It was reported less than two weeks later by Catholic Charities to the prosecutor’s office. Gallo Espinoza was told by the Archdiocese that he could no longer minister. He fled to Ecuador and the investigation closed. In 2010 the boy, then a young adult, filed a police report. The Archdiocesan Review Board deemed the allegation credible and recommended laicization. In 2005 Gallo Espinoza had returned to the U.S. and taught in a middle school and a high school in MD and VA. He abruptly fled in 2/2014. In 7/2015 his whereabouts were unknown. The criminal investigation re-opened. He was found in 8/2015 to be in Ecuador, and admitted to a “sexual encounter” with the boy. The victim filed a criminal complaint; an arrest warrant was issued in 1/2016. Gallo Espinoza  was still at large when indicted in 5/2016. His name was included 2/13/2019 on the Archdiocese’s list of credibly accused, noted to have been permanently removed from ministry. Gallo Espinoza died by suicide in Ecuador 7/2/2022 after shooting three people, killing one.