CA--Convicted San Deigo sex offender priest resurfaces in parishes
For immediate release: Friday, April 22, 2016
Statement by Joelle Casteix of Orange County, SNAP volunteer western regional director, 949 322 7434, [email protected])
A San Diego priest who vanished after pleading guilty to committing “sexual battery” against and “unlawful sexual touching” of a teenager has just been put in charge of three Oklahoma churches apparently with no warning to parishioners.
This is a stunningly irresponsible and hurtful move by both Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley and by San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy.
In 2012, Fr. Jose Alexis Davila was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to stay away from a 19-year-old he victimized in the San Diego Diocese. Catholic officials there were harshly criticized for putting him back in a parish after he admitted his guilt.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2012/05_06/2012_06_05_Guevara_ChurchReinstates.htm
Later that year, Fr. Alexis Davila was gone.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2012/09_10/2012_10_03_Casteix_BreakingSex.htm
But late last month, Coakley said he was putting Fr. Alexis Davila at three Oklahoma parishes. Since December 2015, Fr. Alexis Davila has apparently worked at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Lawton, OK.
http://www.blessedsacramentlawton.org/
San Diego Catholic officials should insist that Fr. Alexis Davila be put him in a remote, secure, independent and professionally run treatment center for sex offenders. Bishop McElroy aggressively use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to seek out others who may have information or suspicions about Fr. Alexis Davila and who may be able
We realize that Bishop McElroy wasn’t overseeing the San Diego diocese when Fr. Alexis Davila committed his offenses. But he has a moral and civic duty to see if there are others in his flock who are still suffering from the cleric’s crimes.
The bishop will probably say that Fr. Alexis Davila officially belongs to some other diocese now. That’s a cop-out. San Diego Catholic officials can’t wash their hands of criminal clergy just by sending them down the road.
Archbishop Coakley should immediately reverse himself and ban this priest from his archdiocese. He should go to all four of these parishes, explain his recklessness, and beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered sex crimes or misdeeds by Fr. Alexis Davila to call police.
And Coakley should be disciplined and denounced by Catholic officials in Rome and on the church’s abuse panel (the National Review Board). Three prelates in particular should take action: Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley (the pope’s top advisor on abuse), Louisville Kentucky Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops) and Juneau Alaska Bishop Edward Burns (head of the USCCB’s abuse committee).
Our hearts ache for every person who was hurt by Fr. Alexis Davila and for every parishioner – in California and Oklahoma – who feels betrayed by the irresponsible actions by their church officials.
We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747,[email protected])
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
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