PUEBLO, Colo. — Among the priests identified in the report on clergy abuse released Wednesday by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser: Father John Beno of Pueblo's St. Francis Xavier parish.
Beno went by another title: Democratic state senator, from 1979 to 1986.
According to abuse allegations detailed in the report, Beno abused two young girls. One was 5 years old at the time of the rape in 1961. She reported the assault in 1996 to the Pueblo Diocese. During an investigation at the time, Beno denied even knowing her, but the diocese found "his denial is outweighed by corroborating evidence," according to the report.
The second alleged victim was 16 and a junior in high school, around 1968 or 1969 at the time of the rape. She reported it to the diocese in 2005. While Beno had passed away by then (he died in 2000), she told the diocese she had confronted Beno in the mid-'80s.
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