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Published Friday, February 22, 2019

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Another man denounced a Catholic priest for sexual abuse

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Arnoldo Villalta, a 53-year-old businessman, has held a press conference during which he denounced a Catholic priest surnamed Castillo Huertas alleging that the priest sexually abused him for a period of six years when he was 17 years old in 1983.

According to Mr. Villalta's testimony, he met the priest when his family owned a flower shop, which the priest contacted regularly asking them to decorate the La Soledad Church* located in San José. It was during this time of constant contact with the priest that the sexual abuse began.

"He started with touches, hugs and little gifts, then masturbated, until he came to rape me," said Mr. Villalta.

Mr. Villalta said that the priest told him that these actions were not a sin.

"The priest, Castillo convinced me through the faith, the forgiveness and there was not a sin in that situation (referring to sexual abuse). That was the conviction of a rapist, a predator," said Mr. Villalta.

Mr. Villalta said that when he told his parents about the abuse, his father never believed him, because for his father it was hard to believe that a priest would commit the abuse. "From that moment I lost my father's affection because he could not believe that that had happened to me."

Mr. Villalta said he did not file a complaint when he was a teenager for fear of reprisals and also because the family was very religious and they were afraid of being judged by society.

Two years ago, however, he decided to make an official complaint to the authorities of the Catholic Church in Costa Rica.

Mr. Villata said that he made this statement public to call on young people and on the men who had once been abused by priests to make open accusations.

"I never looked for this situation to happen to me. This happened as many young men who are going through the same situation and who are not reporting this type of abuse," he said.

In response to this denunciation, Rafael Sandí, Chancellor of the Curia Metropolitana*, which is the highest Catholic office in Costa Rica, said that Father Castillo Huertas was suspected of committing those abuses for several years and no longer performs religious services because he has mental problems and lives in retirement.

"In this case of Father Castillo, he is in a very difficult situation because he is not running the priesthood, he is 84 years old and there are the psychiatric opinions of the mental problems he has," Sandí.

Related to the sanctioning of Father Castillo, if he could found guilty, Sandi said, "The maximum sanction of the church can put on a cleric is the expulsion of the clerical state. But the priest is in a retirement clinic for mental disorder treatment, Hogar San Pedro Claver in Pavas*, he is hospitalized without exercising the priesthood because he cannot do it."

This case occurs during a controversy over another case of sexual abuse brought against another Catholic priest who is being sought by Interpol.

As A.M. Costa Rica reported yesterday, a judge in the Desamparados city court* requested an international arrest warrant for a former Catholic priest surnamed Víquez, who is charged with the sexual abuse of two children in 2003.

The suspect is being investigated for the alleged rape of two men surnamed Rodríguez and Venegas who were minors in 2003. 

According to the Prosecutor's Office of Desamparados city court*, the case was elevated so that it could involve an international arrest order with the Interpol.

A.M. Costa Rica wire services photo

"He started with touches, hugs and little gifts, then masturbated, until he came to rape me," said Mr. Villalta.

The Prosecutor's Office of Gender, which is the judicial organization where victims of sexual crimes are defended, said they cannot give any more details about the case due to restrictions by Article #295 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This article defines that when a case is in the evidence collection phase, the information is private.

The press office of the Catholic Church confirmed that the paperwork had already been done at the internal level of the organization, and that the ex-priest had been asked to appear before the prosecution and face the case.

Auxiliary bishop Daniel Blanco, of the Archdiocese of San José, said, "the Church has not put, or will put, any obstacle to this process. We ask Mr. Víquez Lizano to surrender to the authorities."

According to the record of departures of the General Directorate of Migration, former priest Víquez left the country on January 7, 2019.

With regard to cases where Catholic priests have been accused of sexual abuse against minors, Pope Francis is holding a three day seminar to analyze this crisis in the religious organization.

This week, 190 bishops and other prelates from around the world are gathering for a meeting on the protection of minors in the Catholic Church. The meeting is the first of its kind at the Vatican, and a sign that the Pope and the church hierarchy are finally acknowledging that the sexual abuse crisis has become a global issue—in recent years, scandals have erupted in Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United States, and they show no signs of abating.

According to the Vatican statement, the meeting’s themes will be responsibility, accountability, and transparency, and they hope that it will be a turning point. But they’ve also tried to manage expectations, saying that while the gathering is an opportunity for discussion and reflection, it might not yet yield concrete measures.

According to public statements of Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna, the archbishop of Malta and one of the Vatican’s longtime top investigators of sexual abuse cases, “this is not going to be a three-day wonder, and we’re not going to solve all the problems. Follow-up will be of the essence.”

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Should the Catholic Church file a formal accusation at the Prosecutor's Office every time there is a case of possible sexual abuse by a priest? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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