Fr. Jose Mario Saldana

Ordained: 1978
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Dallas TX

Accused of abusing a 15-year-old boy in the mid-1980s in Ferris, TX. The boy’s mother suspected abuse at the time and told diocesan officials. The boy wouldn’t cooperate, so no action. In 1998, the then young adult alleged victim came forward to the diocese. His brother said Saldana would show altar boys sexually explicit films in his rectory bedroom, while lying on his bed in a robe or underwear. Saldana left his parish in Bonham, saying he was going to a clinic for treatment of medical problems. The Diocese later admitted that he was in a treatment center for sexually abusive priests in St. Louis, but that he still retained all his priestly faculties. Worked the Dioceses of Dallas, Ft. Worth and Tyler. Was also a military chaplain. On the Dallas Diocese’s list 1/31/2019. Laicization pending. Included in 4/2019 on the Tyler Diocese’s list.


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