Catholic church worker accused of grooming teen sexual assault victim

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (KTRK) -- An employee of a Catholic school in Montgomery County has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Ronald See also faces a count of online solicitation of a minor, according to information obtained by ABC13 and attributed to Father Tom Rafferty, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and School.

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According to Rafferty, the victim involved in See's case is not a student of the school and was not involved in the parish. SNAP Houston, which is a group advocating for sexual abuse victims, particularly those in cases involving the clergy, added See allegedly groomed a 13-year-old girl, who was a family friend.

"While See did not find the victim through his position at St. Anthony Padua, it is possible that he could have had access to other children while working in the school and parish," SNAP stated. The group also pressed the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston - which St. Anthony falls under - and its leader, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, to "use every resource at his disposal" to make parents and church members aware of See's case.

See, who is an information technology worker at St. Anthony of Padua, where he has been employed for 14 years, was suspended without pay.

Rafferty added that See's position does not involve working with minors, and that See submitted three criminal background checks to the church, with the latest in 2018.

The church urged anyone with information involving See's case to reach out to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit at 936-538-3502.