New child sex abuse/cover-up lawsuit against LA Archdiocese

In a new lawsuit, two boys say they were sexually abused by a now-convicted Santa Paula priest after the cleric had admitted to LA church officials that he had molested other children.

The suit, filed Friday, March 20, 2015 in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges that former priest Carlos Rene Rodriguez sexually molested the two boys between 1989 and 1991 while the children were parishioners at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Santa Paula. The boys, whose identities are protected by the courts because they are crime victims, ranged in age from seven to 10 years at the time of the abuse.

According to secret personnel documents released to the public in 2013, Rodriguez was accused in 1987 of molesting a boy on a trip to Flagstaff. When allegations surfaced, Rodriguez admitted to church officials—including Cardinal Roger Mahony—that he had molested the boy. Fearing that Los Angeles and Arizona police were looking for the priest, church officials sent Rodriguez to a treatment facility in Maryland. 

 When he returned to the LA Archdiocese later that year, Rodriguez was sent to work in the Office of Family Life in Santa Barbara. He was assigned to work with Spanish-speaking families and spent large amounts of time at the Santa Paula parish. While working in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties from 1987 through 1992, numerous additional complaints were made to church officials of his conduct with children.  Church officials did not seek to remove Rodriguez from the priesthood until the late 1990s.

Rodriguez was arrested for felony child sexual abuse in 2002. He was convicted of lewd acts on a child and sentenced to four years in prison. In the ensuing years, the LA Archdiocese paid for Rodriguez’ legal civil defense against child sexual abuse victims until 2013, including helping to keep secret his previous admissions of abuse.