PUEBLO — The Colorado Attorney General's office released asupplemental report Tuesday revealing the names of four new Catholic priests in Pueblo accused of sexual abuse in the last 70 years.
The four priests in relation to the Diocese of Pueblo are Monsignor Marvin Kapushion, Father Duane Repola, Father Carlos Trujillo, and Father Joseph Walsh.
State Attorney General Phil Weiser believes the two reports have been a good start to the ultimate goal.
"The work we've got to do is to make sure it doesn't happen again and I believe the work we've done in this process has put us on a path to have that," he said.
Today's report indicates 46 more individuals came forward with allegations of clergy sex abuse since the original reportreleased last fall on October 22, 2019. In addition, 9 new priests were identified as abusers - 4 in the Pueblo Diocese and 5 in the Denver Archdiocese.
The Diocese of Pueblo declined our request for an interview Tuesday but did send a statement issued by the Catholic Bishops of Colorado. In it, they reminded everyone that none of the allegations in the report are within the last 20 years and said all of the diocese in Colorado have "now implemented very substantial, specific, and measurable improvements to its child-protection systems."
It is noted in the report that "the new systems implemented by the diocese have not yet been fully tested."
The new report contains incidents of abuse that took place between 1951 and 1999, committed by 25 diocesan priests in Denver and Pueblo. 16 of these priests were already identified prior to today. The new cases were brought forward after last year's report was released.
- The Special Master’s supplemental report can be found here.
- The Independent Oversight Committee report can be found here.
- The Special Master’s first report can be found here.
Editor's note: A previous version of this article stated the '...four new Catholic priests in Pueblo found guilty of sexual abuse in the last 70 years." That was incorrect. The Colorado Attorney General's office released a report naming four new Catholic priests in Pueblo accused of sexual abuse in the last 70 years. We regret this error.
