Finally Church Militant

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/police-raid-secret-files-of-galveston-houston-archdiocese

The district attorney's office from nearby Montgomery County, the Conroe Police Department (Conroe is where the alleged abuse happened) and the Texas Rangers all took part in the raid. Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said at a press conference Wednesday that "federal agencies" were at the scene as well.

Speaking to reporters outside the archdiocese's offices, the Republican district attorney said the Rangers and the federal agencies were there in case they uncovered evidence for crimes outside of Montgomery County.

Sacred Heart Church in Conroe is where Fr. La Rosa-Lopez was assigned in the late 1990s and early 2000s when he allegedly abused two teens. It is also the parish where Ligon and his wife were married. whoa

Ligon remarked on the timing of this raid, given the upcoming "holiday season." He noted, "The patron saint of children is St. Nicholas. And I think that it's just kind of apropos that in this holiday season, St. Nicholas is also known as Santa Claus. Well Santa Claus is here to tell you that the state of Texas will go to any length necessary to protect children."

A reporter asked Ligon what he would want to say to victims of clerical sex abuse who are worried that there might be a cover-up. Ligon noted, "I have done four search warrants. Starting in Fort Bend County; the Shalom Center in Montgomery County; Sacred Heart; and now I'm here. If there's something to be covered up, I'm sure I'll find it."

"People cooperate," Ligon explained, because "there are so many lay Catholics out there that are ready for the Church to come clean. And I am a lay Catholic myself, but today I stand here as the district attorney of Montgomery County."

Tyler Dunman of the Montgomery County district attorney's office wrote of Wednesday's search, "We will take any document or piece of information related to Fr. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez or involving any other criminal activity."

The Galveston-Houston archdiocese put out a statement Wednesday about the execution of the search warrant. The archdiocese claims that it should not be called a "raid," arguing that "any use of the term 'raid' is an inaccurate and unprofessional reference to a request for records to a party that has been cooperating and will continue to cooperate fully."

Ligon agreed with this sentiment, telling reporters Wednesday, "I think that the term 'raid' is inaccurate. This is a lawfully executed search warrant."

The district attorney noted the archdiocese did not hand over boxes of documents to law enforcement on day one, and that prosecutors had to work with "a host of attorneys." He commented, "Having to go through the attorneys, I understand it, as an attorney myself. It's not the type of cooperation that I would hope for, but it's the type of cooperation that I would expect with a sophisticated company."

At another point during the press scrum, Ligon said some archdiocesan personnel are certainly being cooperative, but it is possible others are working behind the scenes to hide evidence. "For example," he explained, "if Cdl. DiNardo is cooperative, that doesn't mean the people that work with Cdl. DiNardo are cooperative. It doesn't mean that they're going to tell him the truth. And so it very well may be in a position where he wants to give us documents but he doesn't know that they exist."

Ligon went on to say, "And the good thing is I've taken the burden off of everybody in the Catholic Church 'cause they don't have to know anything. I'm going to find it all out."

One journalist asked the district attorney if there were plans to seize office computers. He responded, "We've been known to in the past. We've been known to take computers, cables, hopes, dreams, whatever it takes that has a bearing on a criminal case. Usually it's when people don't cooperate that we'll take everything, including the cable box, if that's what's necessary."

He noted it depends on the situation, especially the level of cooperation, adding, "I don't want to tie myself down as to what we're doing inside today."

@fogdryer @NOMOCHOMO