A widow has filed a lawsuit that accuses a Catholic priest of pursuing a friendship with her solely to gain access to her money, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has since suspended him, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
M.J., 79, has named Father P.V. and the diocese in the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on August 22. The plaintiff claims that P.V. became her friend following the death of her husband, and, over the course of seven years, was able to use his influence to steal $284,000 from her.
Tod Tamberg, a diocese spokesman, reported that P.V. is currently on administrative leave "pending the resolution of this matter."
M.J.'s husband died in 2003 and she met P.V. at Palmdale's St. Mary's Catholic Church soon afterwards.
The suit states that M.J. was persuaded by P.V. to give him $150,000 to purchase a homed in Downey. He then added his name to her checking account so he could use her money it to make his mortgage payments.
The suit states, "(M.J.) was a devout Catholic. She developed a great admiration, trust, reverence and respect for and obedience to Roman Catholic clergy, who occupied great influence and persuasion as holy men and authority figures."
According to the suit M.J. would "respect and obey Catholic priests, including Defendant (P.V.)" to the point of allowing P.V. access to her money.
Besides P.V., damages are also sought from the archdiocese – due to its failure in intervening in on the situation once it was made aware of it. However, via email Tamberg responded, "The archdiocese had no knowledge of the alleged financial transactions between Father (P.V.) and the plaintiff…" until the lawsuit's filing.
William McMillan, the attorney representing M.J., said that the family had told the church about P.V.'s theft a year ago. McMillan also said that he had met with archdiocese officials himself, just this past spring, to discuss the allegations.
McMillan, who is also Catholic said, "My church needs to stop doing what it has been doing for a long time in protecting people who shouldn't be protected. They need to stop these activities, whether it's abuse of children or financial elder abuse. They need to get these people out and do a quicker job of it."
It was when M.J.'s son took over his mother's finances, as she had entered a convalescent home in November 2011, that the thefts were discovered. He found a total of $284,000 stolen between 2003 and 2010 and, though P.V. assured M.J.'s son that he would return the money, he failed to follow through.
The Downey home is shown on Los Angeles County Records to have been purchased by a P.V. in 2006 for $620,000. The home was mortgaged for $480,000 and sold for $330,000 in 2010.
P.V., 46, began serving as a priest in 1998.
A priest can use his influence, as we've seen by countless sexual abuse lawsuits, in many ways. In you have been injured by a member of the clergy, or by a private citizen, you need to contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss filing a lawsuit.