Clergy sex abuse report: Colorado Springs Diocese had two substantiated predator priests and three victims in past 49 years

Oct. 26--Three cases of sexual abuse of minors by two Catholic priests in the Diocese of Colorado Springs are detailed in the findings of an independent review of clergy abuse the Colorado Attorney General's Office released Wednesday.

While the Colorado Springs Diocese had the fewest offenses by far of the state's three Catholic dioceses, "one victim of the horrific crime of child sexual abuse is too many," Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan said in a statement.

"As difficult as this report is to read, it is an important step for the healing of abuse survivors," Sheridan said. "It is also an important reminder that we must never become complacent in defending our children and must always seek to protect the most innocent among us."

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser described the findings in the report as "a dark and painful history." The three dioceses voluntarily opened their records from 1950 to 2019, revealing 166 children victimized by 43 priests statewide.

"The culture going back decades was one where there was a reluctance to acknowledge wrongdoing," Weiser said Wednesday in Denver.

"The challenge we have today is to learn from that painful history and prevent it so this can likely never happen again."

The report lists Colorado Springs priest the Rev. William Martinez as a substantiated molester, having sexually abused two victims -- both boys under age 18 -- between 1980 and 1986.

Because Colorado law did not mandate clergy reporting of child sex abuse at that time, the Colorado Springs Diocese did not violate the law when it failed to report those incidents to law enforcement, according to the report.

"However," the report states, "the Colorado Springs Diocese's failure to report to law enforcement voluntarily indicated, at least in the 1980s and 1990s, a disinclination to view Colorado's criminal justice system as an appropriate mechanism for punishing its priests -- even when they sexually abused children."

Martinez was working at Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Colorado Springs in December 1980 when he befriended a 17-year-old in the youth group, convinced the boy to participate in "transcendental meditation" with him in the rectory, and used that setting to massage and fondle the boy, according to the report.

Martinez fondled the boy a second time when the boy was inebriated and on a third occasion bought the boy alcohol and attempted to anally penetrate him, and then masturbated in front of him.

The priest "groomed" the first victim and other boys in the youth group by taking them on trips and hosting parties at the rectory with alcohol, the report states.

Martinez also sexually abused a boy in 1985 or 1986, when he was at Annunciation Parish in Leadville, which is part of the Colorado Springs Diocese. The priest served the boy alcohol and showed pornographic movies to him at a parish rectory, the report states.

The abuse was reported between 1986 and 1988. Martinez denied the allegations.

Martinez admitted to the abuse within two weeks of the first victim filing a report in December 1993. The diocese removed him from priestly duties, and he never returned to ministry. After completing two therapy programs in 1994, he resigned in 1996 and in 2006 was granted a laicization petition -- commonly known as defrocking -- by the Vatican.

The first victim also asked the diocese to require Martinez to apologize to him, a request that was not granted.

"Consistent with a pattern we have seen in numerous other cases in the Denver Archdiocese and the Pueblo Diocese, the Colorado Springs Diocese's lack of transparency in this circumstance led to an adversarial shift in its relationship with the victim," the report said.

The first victim sued the diocese, and the case settled in September 1995.

The Colorado Springs Diocese also never reported Martinez to the police, although the incident was possibly reported to county social services.

"Unsubstantiated rumors" about Martinez's "homosexual activity and inappropriate behavior with boys" emerged when he was parochial vicar at Presentation of Our Lady Parish in Denver from 1982 to 1984. No one came forward, however, with allegations.

In the second documented case, an unnamed priest at an unnamed parish in the Diocese of Colorado Springs engaged in inappropriate sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.

The priest, referred to as "Father E," counseled, telephoned her frequently, developed a friendship with, professed his love for, paid money to, and bought flowers and other gifts for the female parishioner starting in 1987, when she was 17. The behavior continued until she was 25.

The priest initially denied his actions, then admitted his behavior was "inappropriate."

The Colorado Springs Diocese admonished the priest and required him to attend psychiatric counseling, which he did. The diocese did not transfer him, remove him or restrict his ministry.

None of the victims were named in the report, but survivors' groups in a statement called for more scrutiny involving orders of priests, nuns and monks, which were not part of this investigation.

"Since the Catholic Church was not subject to a subpoena and were able to choose what information to share with the investigator, my gut tells me this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Michael Carpino with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Until Wednesday's report, Colorado had been largely spared the nationwide clergy sex abuse cover-ups that has led to the dismissal of priests and even cardinals and settlements with thousands of victims.

A landmark 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report named more than 300 predator priests accused of abusing more than 1,000 children in six dioceses.

Former Colorado Springs priest and retired Air Force Col. Chaplain Stephen Edward Jeselnick, 67, of Colorado Springs was among the accused clergymen in the Pennsylvania report.

Weiser said the work to uncover clergy perpetrators and child victims would be ongoing and not just a one-time report.

Investigators also found four unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct with children against priests in the Diocese of Colorado Springs -- one from the 1980s, two from the 2010s and one from an unspecified time.

Allegations included grooming, touching and sexual assault. But the investigation could not confirm the claims.

Sheridan pledged to "fully embrace and implement" six recommendations issued in the report. "We commit to making meaningful improvement to better protect every child," he said.

The six recommendations for the Colorado Springs Diocese to safeguard children against sexual misconduct are:

-- Creating or contracting with an independent reviewer to handle investigations

-- Adding a description on the diocesan website of its child sex abuse response process and an electronic intake form that victims and witnesses can use to report allegations

-- Engaging an independent party with auditing expertise to conduct a qualitative evaluation of the performance of its child protection and investigation systems. "Auditors often use the adage 'trust but verify,' and the current audits do too little to verify," the report states.

-- Restricting responsibilities of a Victim Assistance Coordinator solely to the care of the victim -- explaining the process, answering questions, providing counseling referrals, handling logistics -- but not having involvement with the investigation

-- Prohibiting the Review Board to conduct investigative activities

-- Supplementing the diocese's Safe Environment Training "with material that enhances its personnel's trust, understanding of, and active engagement with law enforcement as an essential partner in the protection of children from sex abuse," to foster a "see something, say something" culture around clergy child sex abuse.

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656

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