In the center of Irun, next to a children's religious college, is José Manuel Estomba Park. The deceased priest committed sexual abuse when he was spiritual director of the Derio seminary. He would take his penile students out of the office and play them. ARGIA has published its name through an eyewitness and the Bishopric of Bilbao has recognised it.

The Bishopric was already aware of these abuses, but it has remained silent until this media outlet has made the case public. In a 2011 book, the first testimonies appeared – as we also explained in the report – but without the name of the abuser. Diocesan authorities started an internal investigation in 2017 and identified three priests who performed “tweaks” to the students of the Derio seminary, all dead, “one of them is the one mentioned in the news”, the Bishopric acknowledges in the note published now.

Manuel Estomba was born in Irun in 1916 and after studying theology he was a professor at the seminars of Arteaga, Derio and Bergara. He wrote several books in Basque, including the Izartxo novel (1949). He also collaborated regularly in Basque literary journals. Ecuadorian missionary in the region of El Oro, Machalan, the main city of Ecuador (245,000 inhabitants) a street bears its name: Manuel Estomba.

“If he committed excesses in Derio, he could have done the same in Venezuela or in Ecuador,” says former seminarian and collaborator of ARGIA Juan Mari Arrangi, who passed through his hand. Stomba used “sexual hygiene” as an excuse to abuse adolescents. Since the case was published, more victims who suffered their abuse have been contacted by ARGIA; it is estimated that at least two hundred students were in charge.