Offender priest got outsource Masses

Bishop forwarded special requests

Kathleen A. Shaw,TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan outsourced to the Rev. David A. Holley Masses that Catholics of the Worcester Diocese sought for special intentions while the priest was undergoing treatment in New Mexico for a psycho-sexual disorder.

Rev. Holley is serving a long prison term in New Mexico for sexually abusing and raping eight boys there.

The information about the Masses was in an affidavit that Rev. Holley, a priest of the Worcester Diocese, signed under oath in 1993 as part of a civil lawsuit brought in New Mexico by his victims in that state. The eight men alleged they were sexually abused by Rev. Holley in the Alamagordo area after he was sent to a now-defunct treatment center operated by the Servants of the Paraclete, a male religious order.

"People in the Worcester Diocese would send in donations - usually $3 to $5 - for Masses to be said for a loved one," Rev. Holley said in the affidavit. "However, Worcester is a small diocese, and the priests there could not accommodate all the Mass intentions.

"Therefore, Bishop Flanagan sent the donations and prayer requests to me in New Mexico with instructions that I, as a priest of the Worcester Diocese, pray for the Worcester parishioners by saying Masses for them in New Mexico to fulfill their spiritual intentions," he said.

Rev. Holley said that while in New Mexico he regularly said these Masses "pursuant to Bishop Flanagan's instructions" in the Paraclete chapel in Albuquerque. Bishop Flanagan, who died in 1998, also sent Rev. Holley the Mass stipends - the offerings Catholics make for a Mass - and the Mass intentions.

Raymond L. Delisle, spokesman for the diocese, said he could not speak for what may have happened back then, but that he does not believe the diocese is currently outsourcing Masses. The intent is for Mass intentions by parishioners to stay within their parish community, he said.

More legal documents from the 1993 proceedings have surfaced recently because of Rev. Holley's attempt to get a parole from the prison at Los Lunas, N.M. He was granted parole in May and was awaiting assignment to an inpatient sex offender program in that state. However, after victims discovered they were not notified of the hearing, a new hearing was scheduled for Sept. 14 and Rev. Holley was denied parole.

In his bid for freedom from his 55- to 275-year prison term, he wrote a letter to the parole board after the May hearing saying that he did not believe he should have to comply with any conditions they set for his release, such as attending the sex offender program or wearing an electronic monitoring device.

Rev. Holley, who left the diocese in 1969 after allegations surfaced that he had abused boys in this area, was sent to the Paraclete center in New Mexico.

The priest said he did not want to go to New Mexico and wanted to stay in the east, but went in "obedience" to the bishop.

Rev. Holley said Bishop Flanagan ordered him out of Massachusetts, sent him to New Mexico in 1971 and sent him money for the plane fare.

"It was clear to me that Bishop Flanagan was fearful that if I stayed in Massachusetts I would repeat the acts for which I had been in treatment, and that would, in turn, cause further scandal in the Diocese," he said.

The Servants operated a retreat for troubled priests in Jimez Springs, N.M., but he never went there, he said. He was sent instead to what he described as a house on Pajarito Road in Albuquerque, N.M.

"I was never taken to the Jimez Springs facility. I was never given a psychiatric or psychological evaluation, or a spiritual evaluation. No history of my problem was taken.

"I participated in no therapy or treatment programs offered by Paraclete. I never met with a Paraclete psychiatrist or psychologist. I was simply told by the Superior at the Pajarito Road facility to see Dr. Donald Cummings at Lovelace once a week," he said.

His treatment bills were paid by the diocese and he was financially supported during this time by the Worcester Diocese, he said.

"Almost immediately after I arrived at Paraclete, I was given parish assignments for weekend work in the South Valley of Albuquerque," he said.

September 14, 2004

Parole board silent on decision on possible parole of former priest

The Associated Press

LOS LUNAS, N.M.- The New Mexico Parole Board ruled Tuesday on whether a former Roman Catholic priest who once worked in Massachusetts and was convicted of child molestation in New Mexico should be paroled, but withheld its decision from the public.

The board will not release its decision until David Holley, who is in custody at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas, is notified in writing, Cindy Aragon, chairwoman of Holley's parole board said.

Aragon told the Albuquerque Tribune it is standard procedure to first notify the inmate. She said the decision should be public by Monday.

Holley admitted to molesting the boys in Alamogordo in the early 1970s and pleaded guilty in 1993 to eight counts of molestation.

He was sentenced to 275 years in prison. He is serving the sentence at the geriatric unit of the minimum-security state prison.

Holley, 77, was granted parole May 26, but the decision was rescinded because victims were not notified of the hearing or parole.

Gov. Bill Richardson removed Bob Martinez as director of the Parole Board over the board's failure to notify victims of the hearing.

Richardson said the board violated the state constitution and breached the public trust.

Robert Curtis, an Albuquerque attorney who was one of the victims in Alamogordo, said Holley is a "very pathetic person who preys on weak children."

Curtis said he's only been advised of two of the five parole hearings Holley has had since 1993.

"He had so much power," said Phil Saviano of Boston, who in 1996 settled a lawsuit against Holley for molesting him in the 1960s in a parish in Douglas, Mass. "This was the guy we believed was able to perform miracles, change wine into blood, forgive sin. He was so well-respected by adults, I felt that I was to blame."

Saviano founded the New England chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP.

He said the relationship started very innocently. Holley began showing the 11-year-old card tricks and asking him to help move boxes.

Then the cards used for tricks had black-and-white photos of naked women on them. Then there was a deck of cards with photos of couples in sexual positions.

Saviano said it eventually led to episodes of sexual abuse.

"I couldn't go to any adult, my parents, my Italian Catholic family. So I kept it to myself and tried to stay out of his way," he said.

While being treated at the Servants of the Paraclete in New Mexico in 1971, Holley was cleared to work weekends at needy parishes. St. Jude Mission in Alamogordo was one of those parishes.

"They thought he was cured, and that's when I met him," Curtis said.

Curtis said Holley also used the decks of cards to introduce him to the abuse.

Under the previous parole conditions, Holley would have to be accepted to a six-month intensive sex offender program at the Las Vegas Medical Center. Holley also would have had to wear an ankle monitor, register as a sex offender and refrain from being around minors.

December 22, 1992

DIOCESE HAS NO COMPLAINTS AGAINST HOLLEY \ FORMER PRIEST SERVED

Author: Martin Luttrell; Staff Reporter, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester said it has not heard from anyone alleging they were victims of sexual abuse by former priest David A. Holley while he served in four area parishes during the 1960s.
But Boston attorney Roderick MacLeish said yesterday that he was contacted Sunday by a man who claims to have been sexually abused by Holley in Massachusetts, but would not comment further, and would not say if the man was one of those mentioned in a report in The Boston Globe yesterday.
MacLeish also declined comment when asked if he would ask the district attorney's office to become involved.

"I was just engaged Sunday, and I'm just looking into this case," MacLeish said. "It's very preliminary fact finding and fact gathering. I hope the Worcester Diocese will cooperate in that.

"The key thing is that the truth needs to come out, no matter what the truth is."

In the Globe report, Holley is accused by an unnamed 40-year-old man of sexually abusing several boys while serving as assistant pastor at St. Denis Church in East Douglas from 1964 to 1966. Holley also served at St. Philip's Church in Grafton from 1962 to 1964, St. Mary's in Boylston from 1966 to 1968 and Our Lady of Fatima Church in Worcester from 1968-1972.

CIVIL SUIT

New Mexico attorney Bruce E. Pasternak filed a civil suit last week against the Worcester Roman Catholic Diocese on behalf of two people allegedly molested by Holley while he was in New Mexico for treatment of pedophilia. The complaint, filed in Albuquerque, seeks a six-member jury trial.

Pasternak said the Worcester Diocese sent Holley to a center run by the Order of Paraclete in 1971 for treatment of pedophilia. During his treatment over several years, Holley periodically was allowed to serve as a fill-in priest at nearby parishes, he said.

Others in New Mexico and Texas have reportedly come forward with similar allegations since the suit was filed, the Globe reported.

Worcester lawyer James G. Reardon, who represents the diocese, said yesterday he had not heard from anybody except the lawyer in New Mexico. He didn't know where Holley is, but said the diocese requested that he come back to Massachusetts for a medical evaluation.

CHURCH LAW

"Under church law, the church is required to give him aid and assistance," Reardon said. "It is a fact that he hasn't been back here" in several years.

He said it is difficult to verify allegations of incidents from more than 24 years ago. "The bishop issued a statement saying if someone believes he or she has been victimized by the actions of someone affiliated with the diocese, they should contact the diocese for help.

"The diocese is now faced with an allegation in New Mexico that allegedly occurred approximately 25 years ago. We have not seen court papers, documents ... and at this time, have no knowledge except what I have read in the newspapers." Reardon said he received a call from a New Mexico lawyer, saying to fly to New Mexico ready to make an out-of-court monetary settlement, and that the lawyer had notified a half-dozen news media before filing the suit.

"He called everyone but the Moscow Evening News to let them know he was going to file suit," Reardon said.

The Rev. John W. Barrett, director of communications for the diocese, said he had heard of no allegations against Holley while he served in the diocese. Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte said yesterday that his office had received no complaints concerning alleged abuse by Holley.
The Rev. Edward Chalmers, pastor of St. Denis, said he has only been there six months, and did not know anything about Holley. "No one has brought it up," he said. "I'm sure (the parishioners) are concerned for the people involved.

"It's a terrible thing, and we all have to deal with it. Maybe more will come out as days go by."
One parishioner of St. Mary of the Hills in Boylston who was a member of the church in the late 1960s said she had vague memories of Holley. "I just remember him as being a quiet person," Beverly Willson, the parish council secretary, said in a telephone interview last night.
Staff reporters Gary V. Murray and Mary Frain contributed to this report.

December 17, 1992

RETIRED PRIEST FOCUS OF SUIT AGAINST DIOCESE \ 2 CLAIM

Author: Gary V. Murray; John J. O'Connor; Staff Reporters, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)

A lawyer in New Mexico filed suit yesterday against the Worcester Roman Catholic Diocese on behalf of two people allegedly molested by one of the diocese's priests while the priest was under treatment in Albuquerque for pedophilia.

Lawyer Bruce E. Pasternack of Albuquerque said the civil suit charges negligence and conspiracy by the diocese and others for allowing the Rev. David A. Holley to be assigned to parishes in New Mexico, knowing the priest had been sent to a center in Albuquerque for treatment of pedophilia.
Pasternack said he filed the suit yesterday in Bernalillo County District Court in Albuquerque. Joslyn Gonzales, a court clerk, confirmed the filing of the suit and a demand for a six-member jury trial.
According to Pasternack, the Worcester Diocese sent Holley in 1971 to a center run by the Order of Paraclete for treatment for pedophilia. During his treatment over several years, Holley periodically was allowed to serve as a fill-in priest at nearby parishes, according to Pasternack.

Pasternack's suit was filed on behalf of two men, Mark Sanchez and Joseph A. Hafermann, allegedly molested by Holley while he was assigned to St. Jude's Parish in Alamogordo, N.M., in 1973 and 1974. Holley, the New Mexico treatment center and the Diocese of El Paso, where St. Jude's was located, are also named as defendants in the suit.

The Boston Globe, in a story yesterday, said an unnamed source close to the Worcester Diocese confirmed that Holley was sent to the treatment center after allegations arose in Worcester that he had sexually assaulted youths.

Worcester Police Detective Capt. James Gallagher said he was aware of no active investigation involving the 72-year-old retired priest, who is living in Denver.

Monsignor Edmond T. Tinsley issued the following statement yesterday on behalf of the Worcester Diocese: "Father David Holley was a priest in active ministry in our diocese from July 1962 to August 1969. He has not served in our diocese since 1969. Recently, we were contacted with reference to an allegation of his abuse of a minor child.

"This is most disturbing to us and we are concerned profoundly if anyone has been hurt. We have not received any court papers or complaints. We were informed by the newspaper article that the alleged incident is said to have occurred in 1974, and so we have engaged attorney James Reardon to guide us legally and we will refer Father Holley for medical evaluation."

Tinsley would not comment further. Reardon said Pasternack informed him last week of the allegations and he has since been contacted by several newspapers, but he would have no comment until he gets a copy of the lawsuit.

Pasternack said he did not believe the statute of limitations on civil actions would be an obstacle to his suit because "in New Mexico, the clock doesn't start to tick until a person discovers their injury and its cause. In both of these cases, there was an actual repressed recollection, therefore the inability to make the linkage."

He said the statute of limitations also does not apply if there is a showing of "fraudulent concealment," which he said applied to the Holley case. "They (Worcester Diocese officials) had an affirmative duty to warn the people of New Mexico, we contend," Pasternack said.

FOUR AREA PARISHES

Pasternack charged that the Worcester Diocese was responsible for Holley's assignments after he was sent to Albuquerque. "If General Motors sends a factory worker from Detroit to Pennsylvania, they're responsible for what he does in Pennsylvania," he said.

Holley reportedly was ordained as a priest in 1958 and later served at St. Philips in Grafton, St. Denis in East Douglas, St. Mary of the Hill in Boylston and Our Lady of Fatima in Worcester.
Pasternack alleged that after Holley was "caught" in Alamogordo, N.M., he was transferred to small Texas parishes in Garden City and McCamey.

In September 1987, Holley applied to be an assistant chaplain at St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver.

"TOLD US NOTHING'

Robert H. Feeney, spokesman for the archdiocese of Denver, said yesterday, "As part of our normal process, we inquired of his home diocese, which is Worcester. According to our records, they told us nothing about his problem."

Feeney said Holley was a chaplain until September 1988, when the hospital "advised us that Father Holley had resigned, and we removed him from our list of active priests, and his name was placed in the inactive file.

"We have not had further contact with him. There were no problems while he was here," Feeney said.
According to a news story in the Albuquerque Journal, Hafermann, 28, said that he was relieved to talk about what happened to him when he was 8 years old. He said his father was an Air Force officer stationed near Alamogordo at the Holloman Air Force Base. He said the incidents occurred once at Hafermann's home, once at the priest's home and once in the church.

Hafermann said he had repressed memory of the incidents until late last year when he heard about other cases involving priests.

Hafermann is now living in Hennepin, Minn. He is a bank loan officer and is married with one child.