Father Henry Perez
Diocese of Phoenix
Ordained: 1973
Removed: 1991
Died: 2003
Assigned as follows:
- 1974-1976 Notre Dame Des Victoires (San Francisco, California)
- 1977-1978 St. Matthew’s (Phoenix, AZ)
- 1979-1980 St. Mary’s (Chandler, AZ)
- 1981 St. Margaret (Tempe, AZ)
- 1982 Immaculate Heart of Mary (Phoenix, AZ)
- 1983-1984 Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Glendale, AZ)
- 1985-1986 Holy Spirit (Fountain Valley, CA)
- 1987-1989 St. Edward (Dana Point, CA)
- 1990-1992 St. Anne’s (Santa Ana, CA)
- 1993-2001 Inactive Leave
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Henry Perez:
Father Henry Perez was originally ordained a Marist priest in Arizona. He was incardinated into the Diocese of Orange, California, in May 1989. According to media reports, in 1991, Father Perez left active ministry and was placed on administrative leave without faculties in the Diocese of Orange after the Diocese learned of allegations of sexual abuse in Arizona.
In 1993, two lawsuits were filed against him in Phoenix. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor boy from approximately the late 1970s to early 1980s while he worked in the Diocese of Phoenix. He was also accused of taking boys on trips from Arizona to California, giving them drugs and forcing them into orgies with other priests.
In 2002, he was working with children as a “self described Anglican Catholic priest.”
In 2003, he was indicted in Phoenix on six felony charges of sexual conduct with a minor and one charge of misdemeanor public sexual indecency. A man told investigators Father Perez encouraged him to be an altar boy at St. Mary’s Parish in Chandler, took him out to dinner and on trips to Las Vegas, and bought him cigarettes and alcohol as a teenager.
On two occasions, the man described how Father Perez hugged, kissed and molested him. The man “said he didn’t know whether to scream or cry and run away,” according to county attorney documents.
Another man told investigators he also was a victim of Father Perez at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale. The man, who agreed to massage Father Perez for money to fix his father’s truck, said he was molested by Father Perez with an electric massager on one occasion, and had sex with Father Perez on a second.
Shortly after the indictment, Father Perez died of a heart attack at age 63.
In February 2004, Father Perez was included in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’, “Report to the People of God: Clergy Sexual Abuse Archdiocese of Los Angeles.”
Father Perez was named in the Diocese of Orange’s “List of Credibly Accused Priests Incardinated in the Diocese of Orange” in the section “Removed from ministry (forbidden from presenting himself as a priest or from performing any priestly functions).”
In February 2018, Father Perez was also included on the Diocese of Phoenix’s “List of names of priests of religious communities who have served in the Diocese of Phoenix and have been laicized and/or removed from ministry by their communities due to sexual misconduct with a minor.”
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Phoenix. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Phoenix, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Phoenix now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at (888) 283-9922 or send an email to adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.