LOS ANGELES—A man who alleges he was molested by a Mexican priest more than 20 years ago in a California parish filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a Mexican cardinal. The lawsuit claims the Rev. Nicholas Aguilar Rivera molested the man when he was serving as an altar boy in 1987 at St. Agatha's Church in Los Angeles.
At the time, the priest was on temporary assignment from his regular diocese in Tehuacan, Mexico. Aguilar Rivera returned to Mexico after several parents became suspicious and contacted church officials in January 1988.
The former priest was defrocked last summer and remained at large in Mexico, where he was believed to be living in his car in Puebla in central Mexico.
He has been wanted by U.S. authorities on 19 felony counts of lewd conduct for 23 years. Attorneys for the plaintiff in the latest suit have accused the Mexican church of shielding Aguilar Rivera from authorities.
A lawsuit filed earlier this year involving the same priest alleged that then-Bishop Norberto Rivera, head of the Diocese of Tehuacan, and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony shuttled the cleric between the U.S. and Mexico to shield him from prosecution. Parishioners in both countries complained he had molested young boys, according to the suit.
The Mexican bishop has since been elevated to cardinal for the Archdiocese of Mexico City. He is not related to the accused priest.
