According to Hawaii media, “Father George DeCosta, who for almost three decades was the parish priest at Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church in Keaukaha, has been accused of abuse by two Hawaii men. The two were students at Damien Memorial High School in the 1960s when DeCosta was the chaplain there.”
The Catholic priest was working at the high school operated by the Christian Brothers, themselves no strangers to allegation of sexual abuse.
The allegations of Hawaii priest abuse sound very similar to those we’ve heard from survivors on the mainland-the priest plies the unsuspecting minor with alcohol, spends inordinate amounts of time with him, showers him with gifts, and then abuses him sexually.
Hawaii recently passed legislation providing a window to the statute of limitations in civil sex abuse lawsuits that provides survivors an opportunity to bring such claims in Hawaii courts.