Father Carmelo Baltazar
Ordained: 1960
Convicted: 1985
Assigned as Follows:
- Diocese of Malolos (Philippines)
- Queen of the Valley Hospital (West Covina, CA)
- St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center (Boise, ID)
- Diocese of Cleveland
- Diocese of Santa Rosa
- Diocese of San Diego
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Carmelo Baltazar:
Father Carmelo Baltazar was an extern priest, originally ordained in the Diocese of Malolos in the Philippines in 1960. He served in multiple dioceses including in the Diocese of San Diego. He was reportedly first suspected of sexually abusing boys in 1966. He was working under the Diocese of Cleveland at the time the allegations surfaced. He was then transferred over to the Diocese of Santa Rosa in 1981.
According to media reports, in 1985, Father Carmelo Baltazar was finally criminally charged and convicted of lewd conduct with a 15-year-old boy in Idaho, and sentenced to seven years in prison. During the trial, it was made clear that his supervisors at church assignments around the world were aware that he had been sexually abusing young boys for the past 20 years. It was also known that Father Baltazar would go after young boys who were mentally unstable, or physically unwell. It was even documented that he abused one teenage boy who was connected to a dialysis machine and another in a double-leg traction.
After the sentencing, he was released from prison after three years and sent to treatment. In 2003, a civil suit against Baltazar was filed and claimed that the plaintiff lived with Baltazar and traveled with him for 5 years during military assignments. Since then, he has been named in several other civil suits against him and several diocese that he was transferred too over the years.
In 2019, Baltazar's name was included on multiple Diocese lists of clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse including the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the Diocese of Reno, and the Diocese of Boise, which noted incidents of child sexual abuse in the late 1970s and 1985 while assigned to St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, reported in 1985. "Imprisoned" was also noted.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of San Diego in California. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in one of California's Catholic dioceses, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of San Diego now have legal options due to a temporary change in the law, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in California and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.