A former priest, arrested in Lawrence on Friday by U.S. marshals on a warrant for sex crimes against children, served some time in Kansas and Missouri in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Photo of former Kansas priest John Martin Fiala, who served in Shawnee in 2002, as well as in Kansas City, Mo. in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Photo courtesy of Bishop Accountability.
John Martin Fiala, 51, was arrested in the 800 block of East 11th Street on Friday afternoon by U.S. marshals. Fiala was wanted by authorities in Edwards County, Texas, on four counts of sex crimes against children, said Richard Heffron, supervisory deputy for the Topeka U.S. marshal’s office.
An April 2009 story in the San Antonio Express-News details a lawsuit against Fiala, which alleges he raped a 16-year-old boy at gunpoint in Texas in 2007. The article also lists Fiala’s priest assignments, including work at St. Joseph’s Parish in Shawnee in 2001, followed by several months at a parish in Holton. Prior to that, he was spiritual director from 1998 to 2001 at a religious order that had a house in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. However, no reports could be found detailing any sexual abuse allegations against Fiala while he was in Kansas or Missouri.
Fiala, who was removed from the priesthood in 2008 after the allegations in Texas surfaced, was booked into the Douglas County Jail on Friday afternoon. He is being held on $100,000 bond pending an extradition hearing.
A previous Journal-World article reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration agents were present during the arrest, but Heffron said he didn’t believe that was the case.
The photo of Fiala with this story was taken around 1995, and was provided through the website BishopAccountability.org.
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none2 (anonymous) says…
That BishopAccountability.org is a troubling website. We have all heard of priest abuse cases over the years, but you always think that there aren't that many involved. To see so many names on that site is a rather sad commentary.
There is still part of me that wants to believe that some of this cannot be true. It is kind of hard to think that so many grown men would have an attraction to minors. We can argue about whether the celibacy requirement is natural or not. However, I would think that if a grown man cannot handle that rule, he would either leave the priesthood or be able to discreetly find consenting adults. Why someone would turn to a minor who looks up to him and trusts him simply defies logic.
All I can say is that in my own youth, I don't recall any cleric (Catholic or otherwise) as ever doing anything like that with anybody I knew. Sure they were human beings with faults. (I remember a priest with a problem with alcohol. I also remember some that had a reputation for having a bad temper.) Anyway, I hope the young people got the professional help that they needed. As for the priests (or former priests), they need to reflect on why they entered the priesthood. It is horrible enough that they abused children, but to do so while these children looked up to them as representatives of God's love is shocking -- to put it mildly. Do they want these kids to grow up to either hate/reject spirituality or to thinking that even God expects them to "put out" to be lovable?
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…
right by Hobbs Park.
fleeing a charge often indicates guilt. if he did tis, may his punishment be swift and sure.
***
None2,
it seems that teachers in public school have a higher rate of abusing children. but the media do not feature these the way they do charges against priests.
often stories like this draw a huge number of antichristian/anticatholic comments. again, this illustrates the secular agenda.
In Paul's writing (New Testament) the pastor of a church is expected to be married. having a wife tends to keep a man accountable for his actions in private and public.
LadyJ (anonymous) replies…
I know of at least one teacher in Lawrence being convicted.
heath (anonymous) says…
I thought LJW didn't publish the names of accused sex offenders until they were convicted. What happened to that policy, LJW?
mdrndgtl (anonymous) says…
Catholic, right?
deec (anonymous) says…
Please cite a credible source for the allegation that teachers abuse kids as much/more than priests do.
BlackVelvet (anonymous) says…
If the Catholic Church would be realistic and not require clery to be celibate, perhaps that wouild alleviate this problem.
mr_right_wing (anonymous) replies…
It's not a doctrine they get out of the Bible, in fact the Bible warns about this in i Tim 4:1-3.
The Bible also sets one of the qualifications of a Pastor/Elder/Bishop to be 'the husband of one wife.' (I Tim 3:2)
Many Catholics claim Peter was the first pope....uh...guys.....he was married.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
deec... thought maybe you could use a laugh...
http://bigjournalism.com/jhudnall/201...
deec (anonymous) says…
Thanks!
deec (anonymous) says…
Still no citation on that teacher abuse thing.Hmmmm....