A former Yuma man who was molested by a Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson priest has received an additional $1.2 million settlement.
The Diocese of Monterey in California agreed on Friday to pay the money to the 29-year-old man, who says he endured sexual abuse by two Catholic priests — the Rev. Juan Guillen , who is in Arizona state prison for child molestation, and the Rev. John Velez , whose whereabouts are unknown.
The man, now living in Salinas and working in sports promotion, had already received a settlement of $600,000 under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson’s bankruptcy reorganization, which was completed in 2005. The latest award brings his total settlement money to $1.8 million minus legal fees, which are typically 25 to 40 percent of the settlement amount.
“The victim would have gone to trial but wanted to protect his family from the publicity,” said Tucson attorney Lynne M. Cadigan, who was one of the young man’s lawyers.
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“All he wants to do is take care of his family. He’s been supporting his mother, two sisters and his brother. His father left the family — he blamed the mother for trusting the priest.”
The Monterey diocese did not admit any wrongdoing, though its bishop is expected to meet privately with both the victim and his family, said San Francisco attorney Paul Gaspari, who settled the case on behalf of the diocese.
Gaspari stressed that Velez worked in the diocese for a brief period of time in 1991 as a visiting priest from Mexico. He added that Guillen was never employed by the Monterey diocese, though he said mass at a Monterey church on at least one occasion.
The lawsuit names the diocese of Monterey because the young man’s family moved between Yuma and Salinas, which is the Monterey diocese. The young man said that Guillen visited him in Salinas and sexually abused him there. His family trusted Guillen so much that they allowed him to sleep in the young man’s bed.
The lawsuit says Guillen repeatedly raped the young man over an eight year period, when the young man was a boy, between the ages eight and 15.
The young man was the first person to file a complaint about Guillen and was subsequently ostracized by other parishioners at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Yuma, Cadigan said.
Guillen eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted child molestation. He originally faced 13 felony charges related to four victims — all young men from Spanish-speaking families that attended Immaculate Conception.
At his sentencing he apologized to the victims, said he needed help and said he would do everything in his power, “to keep this from happening again.”
According to police reports, Guillen earned the trust of families, who allowed the priest to spend time with their sons. Although he lived in the church rectory, Guillen also owned a trailer in Yuma and often took his young victims there, plying them with frozen treats and video games, police reports say.
