A Douglas County judge Friday ordered a continuation in the case of a St. Thomas More Church family seeking a permanent restraining order against a priest they said intentionally alienated their 18-year-old from his parents.
Judge Lawrence Raymond Bowling scheduled a full-day hearing May 7 to accommodate the many anticipated witnesses.
“These are serious issues, and it’s pretty clear it’s going to be hotly contested,” Bowling said.
A temporary restraining order against the Rev. Paul Montez, granted April 2, will remain in effect. It requires Montez to keep a distance of 100 yards from five members of the family of Timothy and Teresa “Traci” Boh at their home, a workplace, Arapahoe High School and Lone Tree Elementary School.
However, the judge refused to restrain Montez from St. Thomas More Church in Centennial, as the family had requested.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver removed Montez from the ministry in February in response to the family’s allegations after church officials determined the 50-year-old priest had inappropriately interfered in the family’s affairs.
But archdiocese spokeswoman Jeanette DeMelo said the church found no evidence of sexual misconduct.
Montez, a Benedictine monk, grew up in the Pueblo area and has ministered in the Pueblo Diocese, including serving as pastor at St. Michael’s Church in Delta.
He joined St. Thomas More in July 2008 at the invitation of its pastor, the Rev. Andrew Kemberling, according to archdiocese records.
Montez and his attorney declined to comment on the case Friday.
Montez currently is on a three-year leave from his Kansas- based monastic community, according to court records. Pueblo Diocese officials have not returned The Post’s call about Montez’s status.
The Bohs said they had been parishioners at St. Thomas More in Centennial for 12 years. Beginning in August 2008, their eldest son worked at the church as a sacristan, the person who helps arrange vessels, vestments and other items needed by a priest to celebrate Mass.
The Bohs’ complaint states that Montez spent nine weeks lying to their son about them and lying to them about their son. They said he encouraged their son, who turned 18 in September, to move out of the Boh home in November. The young man stayed at the St. Thomas More youth center briefly before moving in with another parish family.
The Bohs further allege in their complaint that Montez described the family to their son as “crazy and mentally abusive” and told other parishioners the teen had been abused at home.
The Bohs said Montez had begun manipulating their son more than a year ago by giving him dozens of gifts of clothing and a laptop computer. He took him on more than 200 outings.
“Montez started grooming (our son), for what we believe would have resulted in sexual assault had Montez not been stopped,” the Bohs said in their complaint.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
