Former altar boy claims Conroe priest abused him while in seminary

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A priest already charged with four counts of indecency with a child connected with his time at a Conroe parish faces a newly surfaced accusation of alleged abuse involving an altar boy.

Through his lawyer, the accuser states Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez abused him while the priest was in seminary between the early and mid 1990s.

The victim at the time reported the abuse to La Rosa-Lopez's superiors but no action was taken to remove him, according to the accuser's lawyer. Instead, the priest was ordained into ministry.

With the new accusation, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston faces a new allegation of ignoring La Rosa-Lopez's reported behavior as early as the 1990s.

Last month, La Rosa-Lopez was arrested and later released from the Montgomery County Jail after being charged. He was a former priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.

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Following his release, a search warrant was executed at the Shalom Center, where, prosecutors believe, La Rosa-Lopez received mental health treatment in the early to mid-2000s.