and could not confide in my superiors the pain I experienced. It was this experience and relationship that ultimately led to my request for a formal “Leave of Absence” from the Claretian Missionary Order.
During my time away from the Claretians, Father John continued to correspond with me from Nigeria, informing me how much he loved it and especially his relationship with so many seminarians. On one occasion, Father John came to visit me, and brought photos of himself and the “students” bathing and swimming in a local river. He told me how much he enjoyed swimming with the students and that they would “wrestle” and hold each other a lot while swimming. There was an implication of sexual arousal between him and the students, which at the time I gave little thought to.
I then recalled an outing that I, Father John, and the entire Ft. Worth CMF community made to a lake near San Marcos. I vividly recall Father John holding me in the water and pressing his “hard-on” up against my back. He would caress my butt and stroke my penis whenever no one was looking. He was very deceptive and cunning among the others swimming around us. No one ever saw or even suspected a thing was going on between us that day. This “playfulness” eventually led to sexual encounters between us back at the rectory and away from the rectory.
I have received several letters from Father John this past year informing me that he wishes to return to Nigeria. I have not answered any of his letters, nor do I wish to correspond with him. I am concerned about his being placed in a position of authority over younger males. It is my opinion that Father John is a sexual predator and should not be allowed to have control over younger students, especially seminarians! I was informed by Father John himself, about several sexual affairs with younger men in Ft. Worth while he and I were involved, and was even introduced to one who worked near the rectory.
As you well know, my life’s work is working with adult male victims of childhood trauma and sexual victimization. I recognize the behavior, I have experienced this man’s method of operation for making physical sexual contact with other males. I have a moral obligation to speak of what I know about this perpetrator.
I want this information to be given to those who would assign Father John to a teaching or spiritual director position among students. Please advise me how I can pass on this information and to whom it needs to be addressed. I will hold off sending a more detailed letter of this to your current provincial until I hear from you first. I trust you understand my position and urgency in this. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Hank Estrada
P.S. Obviously, Father John has no idea that I'm writing this as a result of his recent letters to me and so I would welcome your recommendation as to who in the order should be the one to inform him of the contents of this letter.
I received the following reply from Father Ferrante:.
Ferrante Letter
Here is the letter I sent on January 29, 1995, to Claretian Provincial Martens:
Dear Father Martens,
Enclosed find a letter I recently sent to Father Ferrante. He suggested I send you this copy. The letter is self-explanatory in its intent and importance. Although fourteen or so years have past since I was a seminarian, I feel the enclosed information is critical to the future assignment of Father John Raab.
Feel free to discuss this matter with Father Ferrante. If you feel it necessary, you may reference me and my letter as the informative source to Father Raab. Please understand that I wish to avoid confronting Father Raab regarding this and am not open to any further direct communication between Father Raab and myself.
If I can provide you with any further information regarding this issue, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and assistance.
On February 6, 1995, Provincial Father Martens sent the following response:
Martens Letter
I immediately wrote back, saying I did not save Father Raab's letter but did provide him with the exact dates of my experience. I never heard anything further from Father Provincial Martens or administrator Father Ferrante regarding the actions they supposedly took regarding Father John. To this day, I have no idea if anything was done with or for Father John, including sending him to an appropriate therapist or rehabilitation program. I assume that, given the church’s pattern of conscious denial—nothing.
I continued working with a therapist and eventually came to the conclusion that Father John was a sexual predator who, when he was my religious community superior and spiritual director, took advantage of his authority over me and pursued sexual contact between us as his ultimate goal.
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