'Chosen by God:' Lawsuit alleges New Mexico priest abused girl, 8, in confessional booths
A former New Mexico priest repeatedly sexually abused a young girl in confessional booths six decades ago claiming she was “chosen by God” to obey him and fulfill his sexual needs, a lawsuit filed against the Catholic Diocese of El Paso states.
The lawsuit claims Diocese of El Paso priest Lucio Lopez sexually abused the then 8-year-old girl, identified only as Jane Doe, around 1959 or 1960. The alleged abuse continued for about two years at the San Miguel Parish in San Miguel, New Mexico. San Miguel Parish also is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
"Our client carried this as her deepest, darkest secret for decades," said Levi A. Monagle, an Albuquerque lawyer for Huffman Wallace & Monagle law firm, who is representing the victim. "There's always a tremendous fear of not being believed and, I think, for young victims like our client was, and for female victims, in particular, I think there's this very unique fear of actually being blamed for the abuse."
The lawsuit was filed April 30 in the 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Diocese of El Paso is named as a defendant in the case because the diocese was in charge of churches throughout New Mexico until 1982.
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"The Diocese of El Paso (“Diocese”) has been made aware of the aforementioned lawsuit involving one claimant for alleged child sexual abuse occurring around 1959 and 1960," Diocese of El Paso officials said in a statement. "The diocese takes all claims of alleged sexual abuse seriously and will work diligently to cooperate with all parties involved in the lawsuit and ensure that justice is served in the lawsuit."
The lawsuit does not state any specific damages sought by the woman. It only states, the victim "requests judgment against the defendants in an amount reasonable to compensate her for damages (including punitive damages), for interest, including pre-judgment interest, costs, and such other and further relief as this Court may deem appropriate."
'Chosen by God'
The victim, now in her 70s, attended San Miguel Parish in the 1950s and 1960s. San Miguel Parish is about 14 miles south of Las Cruces.
The alleged sexual abuse began around 1959, the lawsuit states. The alleged sexual abuse occurred on a near-weekly basis and continued for about two years.
"If a Catholic child is taught that a priest can do no wrong and a priest does something like this, there's confusion in the child as to whether this abuse that they've suffered is actually wrong or whether this is done in service to God," Monagle said. "It took our client decades to get to the point where she was comfortable telling anyone about what had happened. Obviously that takes a tremendous toll to carry such a weighty secret all by oneself."
More: El Paso Catholic Diocese releases names of 30 priests accused in church sex abuse scandal
Lopez is accused of sexually abusing the victim in confessional booths at the parish. He told the girl she was "'chosen by God' to obey him and fulfill his sexual needs," the lawsuit states.
"Lopez expressly leveraged the power of his position to abuse Plaintiff (the victim), to convince her that the abuse was her fault, and to convince her (at the age of 8) that she would be blamed by her family and her community if the abuse was discovered," the lawsuit claims.
Lopez "used his status and substantial power and authority as a priest to groom Plaintiff (the victim) for sexual abuse, and to convince Plaintiff (the victim) that the abuse was normal," the lawsuit alleges.
Lawsuit claims Diocese of El Paso was negligent
The Diocese of El Paso is named as a defendant because diocese officials failed to protect the victim from Lopez, the lawsuit states.
The diocese and San Miguel Parish leaders placed the victim "into close contact with Fr. Lopez without a semblance of supervision or safety precaution" and "as a direct result of the Defendants’ negligence, Plaintiff (the victim) was sexually abused by Fr. Lopez," the lawsuit claims.
It adds, church leaders "had a duty to hire, supervise and retain priests who would not molest, abuse, and harm vulnerable parishioners."
The victim's attorneys said she "suffered substantial damages" as a result of the sexual abuse.
More: List of priests accused of abuse by Catholic Diocese of El Paso and others in Texas
The Diocese of El Paso was aware of the dangers of priest using confessional booths to sexually abuse children, but took no action to prevent it, Monagle said.
"The use of the confessional booth to facilitate the abuse in this case is pretty horrific, obviously, but also, unfortunately, fairly common," Monagle said. "The problem was severe enough that the Vatican actually issued a confidential memo in 1922 called 'The Crime of Solicitation' which specifically refers to the misuse of the confessional booth to facilitate sexual misconduct. That memo from 1922 lays out a whole bunch of procedures that the investigators need to follow. It refers to this abuse of the confessional booth as 'the worst crime.'"
The memo acknowledges the possibility of abuse of children in confessional booths. The memo was again sent by the Vatican to all Catholic officials in 1962. Monagle said the memo shows Diocese of El Paso officials knew of the dangers of priests sexually abusing children in confessional booths, but took no action to prevent any further abuse.
"It was a known problem within the Catholic hierarchy by 1922 at the latest," Monagle said. "Here we are 40 years later in this particular case and the same problem is going on in San Miguel."
Who is Father Lucio Lopez?
Diocese of El Paso officials said Lopez died August 29, 1974. Officials declined to release further information on Lopez "due to the nature of the continuing litigation."
The lawsuit states Lopez was a priest at Mesilla Valley area parishes for about 25 years. He was then transferred to a parish in San Elizario, Texas, in about 1967.
A 1974 obituary published in the El Paso Times states Lopez was born in Burgos, Spain. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1930. He served as a priest in Puerto Rico and Venezuela before coming to El Paso and Southern New Mexico.He was assigned to Diocese of El Paso in 1947. He served at St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Las Cruces, San Jose Church in La Mesa, New Mexico and San Elizario Catholic Church in San Elizario, Texas, the obituary states. He was assigned to San Antonio Catholic Church in El Paso at the time of his death.
In 2019, the Diocese of El Paso released the names of 30 priests accused of sexual abuse. Lopez is not one of the priests named.
"I don't know for sure," Monagle said of Lopez being omitted from the list of accused priest. "Sometimes allegations are made against priests and the diocese decides for one reason or another that they don't think the allegations are credible. The list of what 'credibly accused priests' issued by the diocese are not always comprehensive, let me put it that way. He is not on their list and it's certainly possible that this is the first allegation that's been made against him."
Monagle and his team are asking any other victims or anyone with more information on Lopez to reach out to the law firm. Anyone with information may call the Huffman Wallace & Monagle law firm at 505-255-6300 or online at nmpriestabuse.com.
Diocese of El Paso officials also are asking any victims to come forward by calling the diocese’s Office of Victim’s Assistance at 915-872-8465 or reporting it to local law enforcement agencies.
"For decades now, the diocese has worked diligently to implement and train clergy, employees, and volunteers on safe environment practices to ensure the protection of children at parishes and youth programs in the diocese," Diocese of El Paso officials said in a statement. "At current, all who work in any ministry involving children in the diocese must attend and be certified in safe environment training as part of the diocese’s child protection protocols.
"We encourage individuals with any knowledge of any crime or misconduct committed by any member of the clergy, employee, or volunteer participating in any ministry within the diocese to come forward to law enforcement."
Different lawsuit against diocese remains pending in court
This is the second lawsuit filed against the Diocese of El Paso by Huffman Wallace & Monagle law firm and Davis Kelin Law Firm.
The first lawsuit was filed March 19. The lawsuit claims Diocese of El Paso knew priest Lawrence Gaynor was a danger to the community but took no action. Gaynor is accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old boy multiple times from 1967 to 1968 in Lordsburg, New Mexico.
The lawsuit remains pending in the 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces.
Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Lawsuit claims NM priest used clergy power to abuse girl in 1960s
