Police: The Rev. John M. Fiala, a Dallas Priest, solicited murder of boy accusing him of sex abuse

CNN) -- A Catholic priest, facing criminal charges and a lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused a teenage boy, is now charged with attempting to hire someone to kill the youth, authorities said Tuesday.
The Rev. John M. Fiala was in the Dallas County, Texas, jail on Tuesday, charged with one count of criminal solicitation to commit capital murder, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the jail's website. He also is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. His bail totals $700,000.
Fiala, 52, of Dallas, was out on bond on other sexual assault charges involving the youth, now 18, when he allegedly attempted to negotiate the boy's murder, said Tom Rhodes, the teen's attorney.
He was arrested last week after he offered an undercover agent with the Texas Department of Public Safety $5,000 to kill the teen, according to department spokeswoman Lisa Block.
"This guy," Edwards County Sheriff Don Letsinger said, "is an evil man."
A call to Rex Gunter, the defense attorney listed in jail records for Fiala, was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The youth met Fiala in 2007, according to Rhodes. The attorney said the priest started "grooming him," buying him gifts including a computer and a car. In early 2008, when the boy was 16, under the guise of providing private catechism lessons, Fiala "gained access to him and began to sexually abuse him once or twice a month, including on church grounds," Rhodes said.
At the time, Fiala was administrator of Sacred Heart of Mary in Rocksprings, Texas, which is in Edwards County. The alleged abuse occurred in two counties -- Edwards and Howard -- and included the youth's rape at gunpoint, the attorney said.
Fiala allegedly threatened to kill the youth if he told anyone -- threats he repeated in daily text messages, Rhodes said, and Fiala also threatened to kill himself, telling the teen they would "go to heaven together."
The teen, after struggling with the abuse, told a school counselor, who notified authorities, Rhodes said. He filed suit in April against Fiala, as well as the archdioceses of San Antonio, Texas, and Omaha, Nebraska -- where Fiala was before Texas -- and Fiala's religious order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, the attorney said.
The suit claims that all three covered up Fiala's record of abuse. All three have denied doing so, according to the San Antonio, Texas, Express-News. When former San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez and the religious order learned of the police investigation into Fiala's relationship with the teen, he was removed from active ministry in October 2008, the newspaper reported.
In September, an Edwards County grand jury indicted Fiala on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault by threat, according to the Express-News. Fiala was arrested in Kansas by a fugitive task force and was extradited to Texas, where he posted bail on September 27, according to the newspaper. He then moved to Dallas County.
A grand jury in Howard County handed up an indictment last week on the two aggravated sexual assault charges, the Express-News said.
Meanwhile, "approximately a week ago, we got an anonymous phone call from someone saying, 'Look, I'm living in a building with this guy, and he's talking about killing this young man,' " Rhodes said. "Our response was, 'You need to call police.' "
Letsinger said he got a call November 11 from the neighbor. The man at first just told authorities they should "be looking at this guy," the sheriff said, but later said Fiala had offered him $5,000 to kill the teenager. The allegation surprised him, Letsinger said.
The Department of Public Safety and its Texas Ranger Division got involved, sending the undercover agent to speak with Fiala, Rhodes said. The conversation was caught on video and audiotape.
Rhodes said his client was relieved to hear of Fiala's arrest. He was attending college but had to withdraw and be spirited away somewhere safe because of the threats, he said.
"He's still very afraid, but he is hoping that this time Fiala will stay behind bars," Rhodes said.
A hearing on the lawsuit was held Monday, he said. The Omaha diocese had argued it should be sued in Nebraska rather than Texas. The judge rejected that argument, Rhodes said.
"I think he's cooked his goose now," Letsinger said of Fiala. "We know that pedophiles sometimes threaten their victims to keep them quiet. But this is kind of an older victim, and you wonder sometimes why they wouldn't come forward. ... I can see now the evil in this guy is pretty bad."

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n the spring of 2002, the Omaha Archdiocese received a complaint that Fiala had made sexual advances against a minor sometime in the 1980s. The minor "purportedly refused" the advances, the archdiocese has said.
The archdiocese said it notified the Sarpy County Attorney's Office and Fiala's religious superior in Texas, as well as the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., where Fiala was serving at the time. No charge was filed.

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Ordained: 1984

According to the Rev. Joseph C. Taphorn, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Fiala was ordained in 1984 by Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan. Fiala ministered in the Archdiocese until 1996, when he left to join The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), a society of apostolic life in Texas. Taphorn said Fiala served at the following parishes in the Archdiocese of Omaha between 1984 and 1995: St. Columbkille, Papillion; Sacred Heart, Norfolk; St. Joan of Arc, Omaha; St. Peter, Omaha; Christ the King, Omaha; St. Mary, Spencer; and St. Joseph, Wisner. An official with SOLT confirmed with the Archdiocese of Omaha that Fiala was removed from ministry in the fall of 2008 and has not been reassigned to priestly ministry.

In the spring of 2002, the Archdiocese of Omaha received a complaint that Fiala made sexual advances against an individual sometime in the mid-1980s, when the individual was a minor. The advances were purportedly refused by the individual. The archdiocese notified the Sarpy County Attorney and Fiala’s religious superior in Texas, as well as the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, where Fiala was serving at the time. The Archdiocese of Omaha is unaware of any criminal or civil charges being filed in connection with that report.

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Reporting from Rocksprings, Texas — Allegations that a local parish priest raped a teenager at gunpoint have spawned a wave of soul-searching in this remote West Texas sheep- and goat-ranching community and denials of a coverup from the Catholic archdiocese in San Antonio led by Archbishop Jose Gomez.

Accusations that Father John M. Fiala sexually assaulted the boy in 2007 and 2008 -- twice at gunpoint -- surfaced Thursday in a lawsuit filed against the archdiocese and Gomez, who was named earlier this week to lead the archdiocese in L.A.

The lawsuit alleges that Fiala was pastoral administrator at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in this remote Texas hill country community when he began sexually abusing the teen during catechism lessons.

Edwards County, Texas, Sheriff Don Letsinger said the archdiocese and Gomez had handled the case properly.

"Up to this point, they have cooperated fully in this investigation," Letsinger said in an interview in a cluttered office adorned with a framed portrait of John Wayne. "The first time I called the archdiocese about it, they sent Father Martin Leopold, their chief administrator, out to see me. He got here in two hours flat and signed consent forms for me to search the church."

"They have provided all the information I asked for," he said, "and they suspended Fiala almost immediately after I called about the investigation."

Letsinger said the case involves criminal investigations in three counties, adding: "This investigation is about a year-and-a-half old, but it is complete and we're ready for indictments. I think we have a good case."

But San Antonio attorney Tom Rhodes, who brought the suit on behalf of the unnamed alleged victim and his family, blamed Gomez for "blindly turning away from all the red flags in Fiala's employment files, such as numerous transfers and gaps in which he had no assignments at all."

"There is no way these incidents could have occurred without the church's knowledge and the enablement of Fiala," he said in an interview.

The allegations shocked residents of the town, 140 miles northwest of San Antonio, who had come to trust Fiala as a spiritual leader and family friend.

In one of his last priestly duties here, Fiala conducted a 50th anniversary Mass for lifelong residents Francisco Carillo, 73, and his wife. But on Friday, as Carillo raked oak leaves in front of his modest trailer home, he shook his head and said, "We never thought anything like this could happen. But maybe it did."

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(database of allegations of sexual abuse by priests)
[5 offenders acknowledged, 22 listed]

............Fiala affair Rev. John M. Fiala, originally ordained in Diocese of Omaha 1984. Later became member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). He had a record of numerous transfers and gaps in which he had no assignments at all. He worked in the Dioceses of St. Louis, Corpus Christi and San Antonio in Texas.
Lawsuit 2010 Civil suit alleges that Fiala sexually abused and raped a 16-year-old boy several times in 2007-2008, April 2010. The boy's family first learned of the alleged abuse after he tried to commit suicide, Fiala was Criminal investigation is underway and his privileges were removed October 2008...............

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Ever Wonder Why They Pass Around The Offering Plate Every Sunday. This Is Your Answer!
 

January 21, 2011

Father Martin Leopold (left), head administrator of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, says a religious order misled the archdiocese about Father John M. Fiala. Seated are Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller (center) and Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu.

Local Catholic officials announced Friday that they have settled a lawsuit for $946,000 against a now-fired priest accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy, at times by gunpoint, in hotel rooms and during catechism classes.

Father John M. Fiala, 52, was sued by the youth last spring and since has been arrested twice on criminal charges.

Last year, he was indicted on six counts of sexually assaulting the teen in Edwards and Howard counties. And last November, Dallas-area police arrested him on a charge of attempting to hire a hit man to kill the youth, now 19.Fiala remains jailed in Dallas County.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio was named in the lawsuit along with former Archbishop Jose Gomez.

The lawsuit also names Fiala's religious order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity; the Diocese of Corpus Christi; and the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb., where Fiala began as a priest in 1984.

Those parties still face a trial in the lawsuit, set for Aug. 15 in Bexar County.

The San Antonio archdiocese's part in the matter was inherited by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, who replaced Gomez in November.

He said at a news conference Friday that he regrets the hurt caused by the scandal.

“We have been trying for years to be transparent and clear and face the issues,” he said, adding that the settlement in part will go to counseling for the young man and his family. “The complete healing is beyond our reach without the grace of God and his mercy.”

In announcing the settlement, archdiocesan officials blamed Fiala's religious order. Before his hire by the San Antonio archdiocese in 2005, the order sent the archdiocese a letter of recommendation saying Fiala was free of any sex abuse claims, said Father Martin Leopold, head administrator for the archdiocese.

But news reports after the lawsuit revealed Fiala faced a sexual misconduct claim while a priest in the Omaha archdiocese. And subsequent arrests, while not factoring into the lawsuit, added troubling new dynamics for the archdiocese to weigh.

“We're not sure why we were given an incorrect letter of good standing” from the religious order, Leopold said. The lawsuit “had serious allegations and a jury could reward serious damages, and we thought it was prudent to settle.”

E-mails and calls to Father Gerard Sheehan, head of the religious order's U.S. division in Robstown, and Dallas attorney Rex Gunter, listed as Fiala's appointed attorney in a Dallas County arrest record, were not returned Friday.

Gomez removed Fiala permanently from priestly ministry in the fall of 2008 and informed the three parishes where Fiala was administrator, including Sacred Heart of Mary in the Edwards County town of Rocksprings — about 110 miles west of San Antonio — where the teen was a member.

His religious order also removed him from priestly ministry at that time.

Fiala also worked at nearby St. Raymond Mission in Leakey and St. Mary Magdalen Mission in Camp Wood. The alleged abuse ran from January to August 2008 while he was at the Rocksprings parish.

His strategy was to lure the teen into a secluded friendship with such perks as an MP3 player, cash, a car, a laptop and alcohol, the suit alleges. Fiala gave the teen a ride to an out-of-town hotel, where Fiala is accused of raping him at gunpoint.

Fiala was arrested last November after he tried to broker a deal for an undercover officer to kill his accuser, according to the Department of Public Safety which teamed up with the Texas Rangers on the sting.

Last May, Gomez moved to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where he'll soon become its next archbishop. The archdiocese has said his five-year tenure contained no new claims of sex abuse by priests.

The archdiocese estimates it now has paid out $6.63 million to victims of sexual abuse by its priests in the past few decades.

The San Antonio archdiocese maintained Friday that the lawsuit was the first time it had received a sexual abuse claim about Fiala. The archdiocese has said the teen's family notified it in 2008 only of concerns that Fiala was interfering with custodial rights.

But the youth's attorney, Tahira Khan Merrittt of Dallas, said the teen's mother raised concerns about sex abuse to the archdiocese multiple times.

Merritt said the youth reached the settlement in mid-December with the archdiocese, adding that its leaders sought to minimize their role in the matter.

“They're always trying to say the victims are just after money,” she said. “I don't think any amount of money is going to compensate this victim, who suffered at gunpoint and faces a lifelong journey to recovery.

“I think the archdiocese by paying the settlement was unwilling to expose publicly their role in allowing this known sexual predator to work for them.”

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05/18/12
 
This Nov. 18, 2010 photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department shows John Fiala. Fiala, a former Roman Catholic priest charged with sexually abusing a teenage boy in 2008 in his rural Texas parish is now accused of plotting the alleged victim's murder, authorities said. Fiala was found guilty of the plot in May of 2012. (AP Photo/Dallas County Sheriff's Department)


DALLAS — A Texas jury has sentenced a former Roman Catholic priest to 60 years in prison for plotting the death of a man who accused him of sexual abuse.



Prosecutors had asked jurors Friday for a life sentence for 53-year-old John M. Fiala. His defense attorney argued that anything more than 15 years would be a "travesty."



The Dallas Morning News reports the ex-priest will be eligible for parole after 15 years. Fiala was convicted Thursday for solicitation of capital murder.



Prosecutors say Fiala tried to hire a neighbor's brother to kill the man who accused him of abuse in 2008 when Fiala was the priest at a rural West Texas parish and his accuser was 16.



Defense attorneys said Fiala had no true intention of having his accuser killed.




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