The abuse allegedly took place in 2007 and 2008, when Fiala was a priest at the Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in the West Texas community of Rocksprings, a rural enclave known for sheep and goat herding.
The family’s lawsuit also named the Archdiocese of San Antonio and Archbishop Jose Gomez, alleging that church leadership should have known Fiala was abusive.
The suit was filed just a month before Gomez was introduced as the new incoming leader of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. He is serving as an assistant to Cardinal Roger Mahony, who will retire next year. Gomez then automatically becomes archbishop.
The allegations against Fiala seemed like they could have formed a plot for Dan Brown, who wrote “The Da Vinci Code’’ and other religiously themed thrillers. But the accuser’s attorney said they hit too close to home.
When he learned of the murder-for-hire investigation, the boy “was terrified and rightly so,’’ attorney Tom Rhodes said. As far back as 2008, Fiala threatened the teen, and repeatedly brandished a pistol, Rhodes said.
Fiala “began saying, ‘If you tell anyone, I’ll hurt you, I’ll hurt your family, your girlfriend,’ ’’ Rhodes said. “It was more than once he threatened him with a gun.’’
Fiala only recently rented a place to live in suburban Garland, where police say he initiated the attempted contract killing, even though his new home is more than 300 miles northeast of Rocksprings.
Rhodes said an anonymous informant who initially identified himself as a neighbor of Fiala contacted his office and said the priest had approached him about killing the accuser, who was 16 at the time and is now in his late teens. Rhodes urged the informant to contact the police, who then sent an undercover agent to meet with Fiala.
