A man who was a 14-year-old altar boy in 1969 is the latest of more than 20 men and women to claim former Catholic priest Harold Robert White molested them when they were children.
In a news conference this morning outside Denver’s Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, 1530 Logan St., a support group for victims of priest abuse said that the man claimed White assaulted him in 1969 and 1970 while he was a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in Loveland.
“We are here today to urge those who have seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes to speak up, get help and call police,” said Jeb Barrett, leader of Denver’s Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
Jeanette De Melo, spokesperson for the archdiocese, said the church has not been notified about the latest claim.
“We take seriously every allegation of sexual abuse of a minor involving clergy or an employee of the Archdiocese of Denver,” De Melo said in a statement.
Diocese professionals will meet with any person alleging abuse “in hope that any victim might move further toward healing and resolution.”
Barrett, who also claimed to be a victim of priest abuse, said there could have been dozens of other people who were abused by White that have not come forward.
White, who died in November 2006, was often moved from town to town despite many abuse complaints that began in the 1960s, according to SNAP. He abused kids in Denver, Sterling, Loveland, Minturn, Colorado Springs and Aspen, the group says.
White worked in 11 parishes over 33 years and had been out of active ministry since 1993. In January 2007, 10 lawsuits against him were settled.
The latest alleged victim filed the suit anonymously. He says that as a child, he was a regular participant in activities at the Loveland Catholic church where White was a priest.
The Catholic Church did not warn members of the congregation that White had molested other children before, according to the lawsuit filed today in Denver District Court.
The alleged victim came forward after learning that numerous other children also had been molested by White, said Kirsten Boyd, a SNAP member.
“Far too many Colorado children lost their innocence to abusive priests,” Boyd said. “We want to reach out to anyone who was abused.
Recently 18 men and women settled child-molestation cases with the Denver Archdiocese for $5.5 million. A dozen of them claimed that White had molested them, according to SNAP.
The plaintiff in today’s suit is represented by Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., and Thomas L. Roberts of Denver.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
