good morning we start this morning with
a very serious topic about abuse within
the Catholic Church and the fallout from
last month's arrest of a Catholic
priests in Conroe accused of child sex
abuse and allegations that go back
nearly two decades after that story
broke there were questions about when
church leaders learned about the
allegations and how that information was
shared channel 2 investigator Jew Eliza
and bombs spent weeks looking into this
story and here's how Joel revealed a
clear picture of the timeline and calls
for better reporting of abuse
allegations in what seems like an
unending parade of priests it's happened
again this time in our own backyard 60
year-old Manuela Rosa Lopez is charged
in two separate sex cases involving
children but here's the real bombshell
can you give us an inkling of how many
different folks who've been in contact
with that may fall into the category at
some point as victims well I can tell
you that we've probably had 50 to 100
people reach out to us with information
prosecutor Tyler Dunn man says it's too
early to know if and how many new
criminal cases will come from that
information the question is what did the
church know when did they know it and
what did they do about it it's all about
cover-up and it's all about you know
trying to minimize the impact of these
accusations it's not about trying to do
the right thing Michael Norris is a
frequent critic of the Catholic Church
he's part of a support network for
victims of clergy abuse and he's among
that group like Norris we want to know
how a Houston area priest managed to
keep his job 17 years after his bosses
learned of a sex abuse allegation
against him I think to most people you
a crime like this you're getting on the
horn with police I think it is a
travesty
anytime someone witnesses or has
information about a child being molested
and does not call the police it turns
out in Texas the law gives the
archdiocese options either call police
or report the alleged incident of sexual
abuse to Child Protective Services CPS
is a state agency with no police powers
the archdiocese claims they made that
call 17 years ago we have not been able
to confirm that a CPS call or contact
was made what we do know is the
archdiocese removed father la Rosa Lopez
from Conn Rose Sacred Heart and put him
in this rehabilitation compound for
wayward clergymen greetings from
Splendora Texas at the Shalom Center
priest
Andrew Siler of Kansas posted YouTube
videos about his Shalom Center
experience Siler was in the news last
year for a hiking trip he took with
young children
the Montgomery County DA raided the
Shalom Center looking for records about
father larosa Lopez it's a fairly large
operation and their staff was
cooperative with us
so Rosa Lopez was permitted to return to
parish ministry in 2004 from that point
he again had unrestricted access to
children and that continued according to
the Archdiocese even after Cardinal
DiNardo himself in 2011 witnessed father
Manuel la Rosa Lopez apologize for quote
any harm he caused her and expressed
remorse Cardinal Daniel DiNardo is the
top man for implementing the Catholic
Church's Charter for the protection of
children in the US but it was DiNardo
who left father Manuel Rosa Lopez on the
job for another seven years it's a
lifelong impact and so we kind of get
serious about this we need to stop with
this from happening we asked multiple
people affiliated with the Galveston
Houston archdiocese for an on-camera
interview each declined
after we filled in state senator Joan
Huffman she says she supports a review
of the reporting requirement law
Joel Eisen bomb KPRC Channel 2 News
joining me now is Michael Norris who you
saw and heard from in Joel's report good
morning to you good morning
what was your experience in the Catholic
Church and how has it impacted your
adult life I was sexually abused as a
child I was 10 years old at the time and
I it was at a summer camp I didn't tell
anyone for 15 years why because you know
I was scared you know I first of all a
10 year old 10 year old 10 years old I
did not really understand what the man
was doing to me I didn't understand what
sex was so I didn't really comprehend
with what he was doing with me and then
secondly he was an extension of God
that's what I was taught okay and so I
was scared to death come walking out of
that room after had been abused I didn't
think my parents would believe me and
quite honestly because of the standing
of this this individual in the community
I didn't think my mother would believe
me if I went to her so I held it to
myself and so took a while how old were
you when you came out and talked about
it I was 25 before I told anyone I was
35 before I told my parents I finally
got the courage to come forward and when
I was 38 in 2001 I went to the Catholic
Church at that time was not treated
properly they discounted me they tried
to get rid of me the one point even told
me that I didn't have to worry anymore
because the priest was much older now
his sex drive is and what it used to be
and this is what a church official told
me and so I was I was very disgusted and
ended up getting very angry with the
church so I threw that anger I felt like
I needed to do more and went to the
police and what has happened as a result
of that I had to sit there for basically
he this priest was allowed to continue
his ministry from 2002 until 2014 when
another victim came forward and at that
point he was indicted yeah this was in
the state of Kentucky they don't have
statute of limitations on felony sexual
abuse and so he was indicted at that
point and in 2016 I had to go to trial I
had to sit on the stand and tell my
story and this this priest was found
guilty he is now serving time in a
Kentucky prison how is all of this
impact enjoyed
life I live with this every day this
happened 45 years ago but you know it
never goes away you basically what you
do is you learn how to cope with it
differently when I was a teenager I
didn't know how to cope with it properly
drug abuse alcohol abuse there was one
point I even tried to kill myself so
through all that I've learned other ways
to cope my coping mechanism now is
trying to help people who are dealing
with the same thing I have had to deal
with and that's snap that's through snap
yes I'm the leader of the snap
organization here in Houston and that
stands for survivors Network of those
Abused by priests and we're an advocacy
group for for those who have been
sexually abused by clergy we started out
as a Catholic you know serving just the
Catholics but over time we've expanded
into I've worked with Southern Baptists
who worked with Mormons I worked with
Pentecostals it's it's it's broad you
know and it goes across all religions
anybody who's in power has uses that
power to to sexually abused a challenge
are you still a Catholic no I'm not not
anymore I'm gonna point my life where I
cannot practice Catholicism it's it's my
own personal spiritual aspect now my
mother is a Catholic and I love my
mother and so you know I have no no I
have no problem with Catholicism as a
faith and that's what not what this is
about
what this is all about is holding the
church hierarchy accountable for what
they've been doing for the last three
eons actually and snap you have an
opportunity for people who may have been
abused to reach out and be a part of yes
absolutely we're gonna have a kissy
group and we also provide support to to
victims of sexual abuse we have a
support meetings on a regular basis and
we have our next meetings on November
8th here in here in Houston at 6 o'clock
if you're interested in coming anyone
out there is interested in coming to the
to the meeting I encourage you to reach
out to me and I'll put your information
about please do it happens yeah ok
well Michael Norris thank you for being
willing to come in we are going to be
talking about this still a very
difficult topic and for you being able
to come out and be willing to come on
we're gonna do more on newsmakers extra
you can find us on the newsmakers page
of click2houston.com who will pick up
this topic from here