From time to time, we’ve profiled some of the nation’s worst predator priests. Frankly, reading about them can be quite grim, we admit. But today, we’re looking at one of the worst in San Diego, Fr. Edward Anthony Rodrigue. And while his crimes are also depressing to consider, there’s a surprising – and even inspiring – twist to his story. (But you’ll have to read until the end of this blog to learn about it.)
How bad was Fr. Rodrigue? The first line in his BishopAccountability.org entry gives you a sense of just how much harm he’s done: According to church records and media accounts, Fr. Rodrigue “admitted to abusing 150 children, ‘four or five’ boys every year of his 22-year career.” Every single year. And, of course, most criminals admit to only a portion of their crimes. We’ll never know the full extent of the devastation he caused innocent youngsters. Though if we pretend that Fr. Rodrigue told the whole truth about his depravity, he acknowledged assaulting between 88 to 110 kids. On the ‘up’ side, Fr. Rodrigue did face criminal charges twice.
–In 1979, he was sentenced to probation for abusing a boy. A decade later, in 1998, he was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for abusing another boy.
–In between, in 1992, Fr. Rodrigue was already known to be such an incorrigible predator that California church officials, with the approval of the Vatican, formally kicked him out of the priesthood (a penalty called ‘laicization,’ and one usually reserved for only the most egregious clergy offenders.
On the ‘down’ side, however, Fr. Rodrigue was released from prison in 2006. The following year, his name appeared on a list of San Diego/San Bernardino priests who were ‘credibly accused’ of abuse. Today, as one would expect, he remains on the San Diego diocesan ‘credibly accused’ abusers list. And he remains on the same list in the San Bernardino Diocese.
In 2020, under a newly expanded California statute of limitations reform measure – that included a ‘window’ enabling those who were sexually victimized in childhood – NO MATTER HOW LONG AGO – to seek justice in court. At least five more men filed lawsuits based on the abuse they suffered as children in the 1960s and 1970s by Rodrigue.
If you’re interested in learning more about him and have a strong stomach, you might consider reading his 200-page church personnel file released in 2010. Or you might read the following documents released – only because brave survivors filed lawsuits – by the San Diego diocesan hierarchy. And take a look at the sheer number of parishes to which he was assigned: La Jolla, Lakeside, Encinitas, Calexico, Indio, Barstow, Eagle Mountain, Poway, El Centro, Ontario, and Loma Linda.
The Twist of the Rodrigue Brothers
Having read this far, we suspect you’re ready for that inspiring ‘twist’ we promised earlier. Here it is, as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune:
“The brother of disgraced former San Diego priest Edward Anthony Rodrigue made a public plea yesterday for all potential sex-crime victims of Rodrigue to come forward with their stories.”
Tom Rodrigue also said he knew for decades that his brother was a pedophile but remained silent for fear of upsetting their parents.
“I was a coward,” said Tom Rodrigue, 65, a former state tax administrator who lives in Reno. “My parents were still alive. I knew if my mother knew this it would kill her and if my dad knew it, he would kill my brother.”
He spoke at a news conference yesterday outside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego in Clairemont. The news conference, organized by a group representing sex assault victims of priests, was meant to criticize the church for failing to take aggressive action in locating potential victims of Edward Anthony Rodrigue.
Tom Rodrigue, speaking for the first time publicly about his imprisoned brother, said the two men hadn’t spoken since 1978 when he suspected that his brother might be attempting to molest his 9-year-old son.”
Tom Rodrigue showed real courage and compassion. It took courage to risk scorn and rejection from his family and publicly side with victims. And it took compassion to urge other victims to come forward and get help publicly. Read more about the clerics in and near the Diocese of San Diego who committed and concealed child sex crimes on our blog!
Horowitz Law represents 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 954-641-2100 or send an email to [email protected] to discuss your options today.