The Worthy Adversary

Tag: priest lawsuit

  • New Lawsuit Filed Against Convicted Ontario Priest Jose Alejandro “Alex” Castillo

    Ontario priest named in new sex abuse suit

    Convicted cleric faces at least 5 victims

    He was even sent sent back to jail for violating parole

    Church officials knew he gave kids full-body massages, but 

    Crimes were not reported to law enforcement

    For 20 years, priest molested kids in Latino communities

    Come forward and report abuse, victims ask

    Priest must be defrocked, they say

    Jose Alejandro “Alex” Castillo

    What: Holding signs and photos of themselves when they were abused, abuse victims and their supporters will disclose a new child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against the San Bernardo Catholic Diocese and a convicted predator priest. The suit charges that now-convicted priest Jose Alejandro “Alex” Castillo:

    • sexually abused an Ontario teen in 2003,
    • had a 20-year history of known and unreported predatory behavior, and
    • was intentionally put in poor, Spanish speaking communities where children are less likely to report

    Victims will also urge San Bernardino’s Bishop Gerald Barnes to:

    • reach out to every person who encountered the child-molesting priest,
    • turn over all evidence of abuse to law enforcement,
    • beg the priest’s supporters to keep their kids away from him, and
    • ask anyone who saw, suspected or suffered abuse to call police, not church officials.

    Where: Outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, 710 S Sultana St. (corner of Mission), Ontario

    When: Tuesday, September 18 at 11:45 am

    Who: Two – three victims of sexual abuse and their supporters who are members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

    Why: This week, an attorney for a former young catechism student filed a sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against the Diocese of San Bernardino and a convicted predator priest/parole offender, Fr. Jose Alejandro “Alex” Castillo.

    The lawsuit charges that in 2003 when the boy was a 15- and 16-year-old student in the parish, Castillo would isolate the boy from other adults and children and sexually abuse him. The victim currently lives in Mexico and is under the age of 26.

    The suit also says that church officials had reports that Castillo was molesting kids all the way back in the 1970s, when Castillo was a seminarian in Mexico and the 1980s and ’90s, when he was a priest of the Order of the Divine Word. Castillo left the order and joined the San Bernardino Diocese in approximately 1996. Before the victim in this case was abused, San Bernardino church officials knew that Castillo was taking kids into his room and giving them full-body massages.

    In April 2011, Castillo pleaded guilty to lewd acts with a child under the age of 14.  After his release in 2012, Castillo was sent back to jail for violating the conditions of his parole when he attended a party where children were present. The party was thrown by his supporters and former parishioners. Church officials, who knew of Castillo’s predatory behavior, did nothing to reach out to the group and explain the insensitivity of their actions.

    This is the third sex abuse lawsuit filed against Castillo. In September 2011, two victims, one of whom was the victim in Castillo’s criminal conviction, filed lawsuits against the priest and diocese. According to court documents, there are at least five victims who have come forward to say that Castillo molested them.

    According to the sentencing report, Castillo has little to no understanding of the severity of his crimes.

    The lawsuit also says that Castillo used his position as a priest to have unlimited access to the children. San Bernardino church officials have known for years about Castillo’s predatory behavior, yet let him work in a parish with a school and spend long amounts of time with families with young children, the suit maintains.

    To date, there has been no announcement that San Bernardino Bishop Gerald Barnes has moved to defrock Castillo. The cleric’s last known address was in Ontario.

    Castillo’s victims are represented by Pasadena attorney Anthony DeMarco.

  • BREAKING: Former Hawaii bishop accused of molesting boy

    For immediate release: Wednesday, June 13, 2012

    Hawaii bishop accused of molesting boy

    New sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit is filed

    This is the 2nd victim to name Ferrario as offender

    Diocese knew and covered up allegations, lawsuit says

    New state law lets victims expose abusers & protect kids

    In a new civil lawsuit using an unusual new state law, a former Hawaii bishop and one of his priests are accused of molesting a boy and Catholic officials are accused of ignoring or concealing their crimes.

    A California man says he was sexually violated as a ten-year-old in 1973, first by Fr. Joseph Henry and then by former Honolulu Bishop Joseph Ferrario. At the time, the boy attended mass at St. Anthony’s parish in Kailua. Both alleged wrongdoers are now deceased.

    The lawsuit is one of the first filed under a new Hawaii law that lets child sex abuse victims use the courts to expose predators, protect kids and seek justice, even decades after they were assaulted.

    The victim, who grew up in Hawaii and now lives in California, is suing the Honolulu Diocese, which employed both clerics.

    The suit says that after being sexually victimized by Henry, the confused and scared boy was placed in religious education classes with Joseph Ferrario. Ferrario was a new priest at the parish who allegedly “counseled” the victim and began abusing the boy himself. The abuse reportedly continued after Ferrario was made an auxiliary bishop and continued until 1978.

    Before Ferrario came to the parish, boy reported the abuse by Henry to two other priests, who told him to keep quiet, the suit maintains

    This is the second victim of Henry and Ferrario to come forward.

    In 1991, David Figueroa of Hawaii filed a similar suit against both clerics. In 1991, it was dismissed because the statute of limitations had passed .

    The victim in the new suit came forward to a church lawyer in 1991 to report his abuse, but allegedly, Honolulu church officials offered no help and launched no investigation (or did so secretly).

    “This is a perfect example of how Hawaii’s new civil window law can being justice and accountability to victims,” said Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director. “Here’s a victim who did everything ‘right,’ but church officials silenced him and kept kids at risk. But because of this smart new law, the public will be able to learn which diocesan staff ignored or concealed these heinous crimes.”

    “The new Hawaii law is especially important in situations like this one, when the power of an accused bishop is one of the factors that has prevented justice from being done,” said Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org. “We know of 22 bishops in the U.S. who have been accused of abuse, including Bishop Ferrario, and as bishops, they have a crucial role in the clerical culture of abuse and the enabling of abuse.”

    The new law, Act 068, sponsored by Sen. Maile Shimabukuru and signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in April gives child sex abuse victims a two-year “window” to use the civil courts to expose their perpetrators and those who may have ignored or concealed the crimes. This is the second known case filed under the new law. The first, against Damien High School chaplain Gerald Funcheon, was filed in May.

    In California and Delaware, civil window laws exposed hundreds of predators and help law enforcement put predators behind bars.

    Henry, who died in 1974, also went by J. Michael Henry and Joseph M. Henry. Ferrario died in 2003 and spent part of his clerical career working in Hawaii and California. You can see his entire history here

    Copies of the lawsuit are available on the website http://www.abusedinhawaii.com

    The lawsuit was filed in the Hawaii’s First Circuit Court and seeks unspecified damages.