A former altar boy sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Thursday, alleging that he was sexually abused by a priest in 1987 shortly before the priest fled to his native Mexico to avoid criminal prosecution over other molestation allegations. The plaintiff, 32, said that when he was 9 or 10, the priest molested him repeatedly at a Catholic church near downtown Los Angeles. An archdiocesan official says the priest was removed from service in 1988.

The lawsuit asserts that an official with the archdiocese later encouraged Aguilar-Rivera to leave Los Angeles after parents of several children from the parish reported similar abuse to church officials.

Read the full article | Print this article