Troubled teens that go to their Catholic priest for confession and ask for help, sometimes get more troubles instead. Such is the claim made in a lawsuit filed against the Catholic Archdiocese in San Antonio, Texas by a man who claims a priest sexually abused him when he was a child during the 1980s.
As reported by Channel 5 KENS Eyewitness News, the alleged abuse came from Jesus (Jesse) Dominguez who was a seminary student during the time and later became a priest. The lawsuit alleges that while the boy was an orphan, Dominguez gained his trust by buying him clothes and taking him on outings.
During the two-year period of contact, each outing resulted at the end with sexual molestation. This happened two or three times per week. When the boy expressed discomfort with the situation, Dominguez feigned heart attacks and threatened to kill the boy and himself if the situation was revealed to anyone.
The confused youth did not know what to do, so he sought help from a different priest in another parish. This is one of the unusual sexual abuse lawsuit cases handled by sexual abuse attorneys, in that it alleges that not only did the boy not receive the help he was seeking, but the other priest abused him sexually as well. The reason that the Archdiocese is the target of the suit is because the lawsuit alleges that they knew of the problem and rather than report the crimes to appropriate authorities, chose instead to cover them up.
Since that time, the boy has grown to be an adult man. He claims in the lawsuit to suffer from depression, anger, and that the memories of the haunting experience of sexual abuse as a child led him to destroy his life with substance abuse.
The alleged perpetrator, “Father Jesse,” whose full name is Jesus Armando Dominguez was charged in another locale with sexual child abuse. According to the L.A. Times, in 2005, Dominguez faces 56 counts of sexual abuse for criminal cases in California where he served as a priest in the communities of Coachella and Perris.
Father Jesse was defrocked because of these allegations. He fled prosecution. It is presumed he is somewhere in Mexico. Mexico has no extradition agreement with the United States. Capturing Jesus Armando Dominguez in Mexico to bring him to justice in the USA is kidnapping since no charges have been filed in Mexico. Unless he returns to the U.S., it appears the ex-priest got away with his crimes. However, depending on the results of the lawsuit the Archdiocese may have to pay.
