After former priest Edmundo Paredes skipped town last year, it was revealed that he was accused of sexually assaulting boys at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in the early 2000s.
St. Cecilia threw the priest a retirement party in 2017 even after he admitted to stealing $60,000 from the church. Paredes, who worked at St. Cecilia for 27 years and at Oak Cliff’s Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church before that, is accused of abusing three teenagers, now adults, more than a decade ago.
The Dallas Police Department issued a warrant for his arrest, related to the sexual-assault cases, earlier this month. He hasn’t been located.
After the accusations came out in October 2018, the Bishop of Dallas prostrated himself on the altar of St. Cecilia’s, a sign of penance. He also promised to name Dallas priests accused of sexually abusing children. In a public letter released Thursday, Bishop Edward J. Burns writes that former law-enforcement officers investigated the files of more than 2,000 catholic clergy.
The dioceses of Dallas and Fort Worth on Thursday released lists of priests “with credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors since 1950”.
In Dallas there are 31, and 12 of those have served in Oak Cliff, plus one other in West Dallas. Below are the details. Note that we’re only listing their local churches here. Click their names to see further church assignments.
Michael Barone served St. Elizabeth of Hungary church in Oak Cliff. He retired in 2017. EDIT: Barone’s resume on LinkedIn says he worked at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church in Plano. The diocese’s list says he worked at the Oak Cliff church and doesn’t mention the Plano church.
Thomas Behnke served St. Mary of Carmel in West Dallas. He died in 2008.
Alejandro Buitrago served St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos — St. Theresa in West Dallas. He was also a chaplain at Children’s Hospital and Parkland Hospital. He retired in 2017
Robert Crisp served St. Elizabeth of Hungary. He was publicly accused in 2010 but only removed as a priest last year.
James Fitzpatrick served Holy Cross church on Bonnie View Road and St. James on East Saner. He died in 1973.
Gabriel Hentrich served Mt. Carmel Center in Oak Cliff and St. Mary of Carmel in West Dallas. He died in 1992.
William Hoover served Blessed Sacrament, St. Cecilia, St. James and Holy Cross. In 1996 he admitted to sexually abusing a child at St. James in 1957. News reports from ’96 say he was still a priest at a Fort Worth church, but the list says he retired in 1995.
Richard Johnson served St. Cecilia and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. He was also chancellor of the Diocese of Dallas and chaplain of the SMU Newman Center. He retired in 2006 and died in 2016.
William Lane served Holy Cross. He died in 1968.
Justin Lucio served St. James and also worked at Catholic Charities and ministry to the poor in Oak Cliff. He resigned from St. James in 1989 amid allegations he was homosexual, had raped a woman and had embezzled from the church, according to Dallas Morning News reporting from 1990. The list says he was removed as a priest in 1986. He died in 2004.
Jose Saldana served St. Cecilia and also served as a county jail minister in Dallas. In 1998 a man came forward saying Saldana had molested him 20 years previously. The newspaper reported then that Saldana took leave from his Ferris church to attend a treatment center for Catholics in St. Louis, and the list says he was removed in 1998.
Raymond (John) Scott served Blessed Sacrament from 1978-1983, according to his obituary. He retired in 2000 and died in 2012.
