Lawsuit Claims Years of Cover Ups by Catholic Charities

According to a recent news article, the family of a sexual abuse victim filed a lawsuit against Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and a former program coordinator of the organization. The family claimed the charity has a history of covering up cases that involve sexual assault. The former employee of Catholic Charities is presently in jail serving a seven year sentence for sexual assault.

According to the lawsuit, the coordinator began his abuse of the 11-year-old boy in 2007 when the family immigrated to the United States from Cuba and sought help from the charity. He allegedly approached the child in the charity’s lobby where he offered him candy in order to lure him to his office. Once they were alone in his office the man allegedly grabbed hold of the child’s wrists and forced him to touch his private parts.

On a later visit, the coordinator once again lured the young child to his office with an offer of candy. On this occasion the coordinator forced the boy to sit on his lap after which he sexually assaulted him (according to the family’s claims in the lawsuit). Allegedly, the coordinator told the child that if he told his family about the abuse, they would not receive any help from Catholic Charities.

The Lawsuit

In 2011 the coordinator faced charges for the abuse and pleaded no contest to indecency with a child. In exchange for the plea, he was sentenced to seven years in jail. According to claims in the lawsuit, Catholic Charities had been aware of the man’s behavior as far back as 2005 when another immigrant child told senior administrators about him befriending a middle school boy whose parents had moved to Houston from the Congo in late 2004.

The lawsuit also states that the other victim’s family had filed complaints with the Executive Director of Catholic Charities that the coordinator was keeping the boy out late, had signed the boy to a soccer league, and played a role in changing the boy’s school in spite of the wishes of his mother. He additionally gave that child rides in his car without securing the permission of his family and was taking him out to restaurants and other “fancy” places.

According to a former coworker, there were rumors about the coordinator as far back as 2006 when the coworker first started with Catholic Charities. She says at least three coworkers told her to keep the man away from children. She also told investigators she was intervened to prevent the man from attempting to take a seven-year old boy to the bathroom by telling him the child didn’t need his help.

The lawsuit also states that there are other cases in which the charity has covered up sexual assaults, including the 2011 sexual assault of a four-year-old boy at one of the organizations daycare centers. The assault occurred in plain view of staff, and even though at least three people witnessed the incident, the daycare staff failed to seek medical attention for the child or even report the incident for four days.

An investigation also revealed that staff had rewritten and deliberately eliminated material facts involving incident reports of that assault. The lawsuit stated that those reports were deceptive in nature, and thus misled investigators. The Director resigned in 2012 after employees of the daycare were cited for their roles in covering up the assault.

For more information on daycare child abuse, visit: https://www.jrlawfirm.com/practice-areas/daycare-abuse/

Category: In The News