Eideard

A Roman Catholic priest allegedly seduced a 17-year-old girl while she was a senior at a Catholic high school in Reading into a sexual relationship that resulted in her giving birth at age 19, according to a civil lawsuit filed by her parents in Berks County Court.

According to the lawsuit, the Rev. Luis A. Bonilla Margarito was removed as chaplain of Reading Central Catholic High School and pastor of St. Joseph Church in Reading after the parents secretly video-taped him having sexual intercourse with their daughter in the basement of their home in November.

By then, she had graduated from high school and had turned 18 years old, but the lawsuit alleges the sexual relationship began when she was still in high school. The lawsuit says the parents allowed their daughter to meet with the priest for counseling because she had severe mental health issues as a result of prior sexual abuse by another adult male…

The Allentown Diocese announced Bonilla was removed as priest of St. Joseph’s in November because he had a relationship with an 18-year-old woman…A church spokesman said Bonilla would be sent to a treatment facility and no criminal charges were pending.

But the lawsuit alleges church officials knew of the “illicit relationship” when it first began and that it had continued after she graduated.

The parents decided to video-tape one of the counseling sessions their daughter had with Bonilla because they had become suspicious of his intentions, the lawsuit said. The parents claim in the lawsuit they overheard Bonilla tell their daughter she didn’t have to obey them anymore because she was 18. They also claim he alienated their daughter from them by “leading them to believe his relationship with their daughter was superior to theirs…”

The lawsuit says the parents gave money to the church and school expecting that their daughter would be protected from “sexual abuse and exploitation by sexual predators such as Father Bonilla.”

Not an unreasonable expectation, I would say. If you believe.