Attorneys seek religious order files on accused priests, including 1 who served after jail

Published April 14, 2013

Associated Press


LOS ANGELES – The Rev. John Anthony Salazar served 11 years as a Roman Catholic priest in Texas despite a conviction for child molestation in Los Angeles.

Salazar has been accused of molesting four more teens and young men during his years in the Diocese of Amarillo.

Details of his past are contained in a personnel file made public this year after a legal battle with abuse victims that led to the release of 120 similar files.

But those records tell only part of the story.

On Tuesday, attorneys will argue over the release of records for about 80 priests, like Salazar, who belonged to religious orders that kept their own personnel files on accused clergymen. Plaintiff attorney Ray Boucher says the documents are critical to understanding the clergy abuse scandal.


Source
.