The allegations come at a time when Catholic dioceses across California are being hit with a wave of new child sex abuse lawsuits enabled by a recent state law.
“He invited me to his house to watch movies, so I rode my bike over to his house,” Chavez said.
“It makes you feel like you’re just a piece of s**t, a piece of meat that’s not good anymore, like you’re spoiled,” Chavez said.Chavez sued the Catholic church last year, joininge plaintiffs empowered by a 2019 law permitting Californians to file new lawsuits based on older childhood sexual abuse claims otherwise barred by the statute of limitations.
Bettencourt died of AIDS, according to a small Catholic college in Kansas, which says the priest left them more than a quarter-million dollars from his estate. Chavez, meanwhile, survives on disability payments that cover his life-long medical bills. Haynie said lawsuits like his client’s will reveal new depths to the clergy abuse scandal, especially in places where bishops have remained quiet, such as San Francisco.
Every California bishop has released such a list, except for Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.