It leaves us scratching our collective heads as we just posted about another predator priest, but as best we can tell, not a single US TV station, radio station, newspaper, or even blogger has ever reported on the abuse allegations against Fr. Ramon Salvador Gomez. How can that be? In 2021, he was put on the 'credibly accused' list in the Fresno Diocese. He was on a similar list in the San Antonio Archdiocese two years prior.
Fr. Gomez was "dismissed after law enforcement officials in California informed the San Antonio Archdiocese that he was accused of child sex abuse in that state." He later moved to Jalisco, Mexico, but sometimes returned to the Texas town of Carrizo Springs "without faculties or permission for priestly ministry, despite the objections of the parish pastor and a letter from the Texas archbishop to the Mexican bishop."
On one of these visits to Carrizo Springs, Fr. Gomez reportedly abused three boys. Catholic officials claim they've "not been able to locate Fr. Gomez."Sounds like he's had quite a checkered - and newsworthy - history. Worse, it sounds like he could very likely still be a threat to children.
One quick point and one key question:
- If they truly cared, Catholic officials would have used church bulletins, pulpit announcements, diocesan mailings and websites, news conferences, and other ways to nudge the flock and their staff to help track down Fr. Gomez. Sadly, but not surprisingly, there's no evidence that a single person in any church leadership position has done even the slightest bit of this outreach.
- Will we ever know how many other priests are out there like Fr. Gomez - proven, admitted, or credibly accused child molesters who have reportedly vanished and quite possibly working now in daycare centers, giving private music lessons to kids in their apartments, volunteering as a coach for a Little League team or who have, in dozens of other ways, found another chance to be near children?
The obvious and deeply depressing answer: "No, not if US bishops have their way." So why has the US news media paid no attention to Fr. Gomez and his crimes? In fairness, one of Mexico City's leading daily newspapers, La Jornada, has written about Fr. Gomez. It's from their account that many of these facts have been lifted.) Honestly, no one knows. But we at Horowitz Law have some theories:
- First, child sex crimes and cover-ups get more media attention in bigger cities, with more media outlets that have more resources. (Remember: While Fresno's no tiny town, the diocese covers many smaller communities and farmland.)
- Second, we suspect that in the eyes of some, priests abusing kids is 'old news.' It's likely considered less shocking and, therefore, less newsworthy than 20 or even 10 years ago.
- Third, we fear that there may be less media coverage of this scandal these days because many abuse survivors have given up fighting or hoping for justice, disclosures, and reforms. We hope we're wrong but suspect we're not.
But the bottom line is that we aren't sure why there's less media coverage about bad priests and why or how Fr. Gomez has remained 'below the radar.' This, however, we DO know: All of us who care about kids must keep trying, pushing, and prodding reporters and editors and secular authorities and religious officials to investigate more, prosecute more, sue more, and disclose more about child molesting clerics. Perhaps the best way to learn and disclose information about sex offender clergy is through a civil lawsuit. In a civil suit, the victim calls the shots. In civil lawsuits, victims can often get 'discovery,' which means access to the deeply held secrets in church offices and files, secrets about how long ago abuse reports against priests were made and how little church officials did in response to those reports.
The filing of a civil child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit almost always generates news media coverage, mentioning the accused's name. That, in turn, protects children. That is one reason why Horowitz Law works so hard to help survivors who want to sue so that parents, police, prosecutors, parishioners, and others can learn who and where the potentially dangerous predators are AND which of their bosses and co-workers did little or nothing to protect kids from them.
Back to Fr. Gomez: In the Fresno area, he worked at Holy Spirit Parish in Gustine and as an associate pastor in Merced. In the San Antonio area, he worked at two parishes, one in Carrizo Springs. He was ordained in 1973 for the Archdiocese of Tapachula, Mexico. To learn more about two other Fresno child molesting clerics, check out a few recent links:
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2024/06/a-very-troubling-case-fr-swearingen-of-fresno/
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2024/07/another-notorious-fresno-predator-priest-father-louis-aloysius-garcia/
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2024/07/why-diocesan-review-boards-matter-in-sexual-abuse-cases/
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by religious authority figures and numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists. If you need a lawyer because a member of a religious organization, doctor, professional, or therapist sexually abused you, contact us today at 888-283-9922 or to discuss your options today.