Diocese lawsuit

The Catholic Diocese of San Angelo has responded to a lawsuit against the diocese and a former priest who committed suicide following allegations of sexual abuse against a then-minor boy.

Bishop Michael Pfeifer issued a statement late Tuesday expressing shock at the lawsuit.

"I am dismayed by the claim, that the Diocese, and I personally, are somehow responsible for some claimed sexual abuse of a minor child, by the late Fr. David Espitia," Pfeifer said.

He said no other claims of abuse against Espitia have surfaced and that Espitia himself was the first to tell him about the allegation June 6, 2003. Shortly thereafter, on June 13, the priest was found dead by hanging inside his Colorado City home in an apparent suicide.

He was due to take over a new post presiding over Odessa’s St. Joseph and St. Anthony’s Catholic Churches on July 1, 2003.

Pfeifer’s statement also said that Espitia flatly denied the allegations but assistance was offered to the accuser and the allegation was properly reported to law enforcement.