Sacramento CA Diocese faces legal battle upset at release of former priest responsible for molestation

[kemushi]

Mexico frees ex-priest in molest case - Sacramento Bee article

**By Jennifer Garza - jgarza@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, August 21, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1**

Mexican authorities have released a former Sacramento priest who was awaiting extradition to California on charges that he sexually abused two minors nearly 17 years ago.

Sacramento church officials said they have no idea where Gerardo Beltran has gone since his release last week from a Mexico City jail, where he had been held since March.

Diocesan officials said they had been working with the Vatican for nearly two years to remove Beltran and two others – Jose Luis Urbina and Francisco Javier Garcia – from the priesthood. All three worked in the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and had fled to Mexico after being accused of sexually molesting minors.

http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2008/08/20/20/292-4W21BELTRAN.highlight.prod_affiliate.4.JPG

Moderator note: Quote shortened to three paragraphs to comply with forum rules.

 

[kemushi]

WOW! 68 people read this article and not ONE cares to comment.

Interesting.

Well, I will start by saying that the Sacramento Diocese, despite it’s clearly rampant abuses in the past is making a fairly solid effort at redeeming the victims by pursuing the perpetrators (ex priests who fled to Mexico) in the interest of absolute justice. Now Mexico has a problem on their hands. The rumors going around are that the courts in Mexico released him on supposed statute of limitations, right after Texas refused to allow a convict legal recourse through mexican courts prior to execution.

Yet again the issue is side stepped by almost all RC’s. Sore much? :dts:

 

[St_Francis]

I read the entire article, and I am very happy to see that there is a diocese out there laicizing these “priests” who have so sullied the mark on their soul by committing these heinous crimes.

I hope that the entire Church will start doing the same, and publicizing that they are doing it, and also publishing somewhere the photos of these de-frocked men so that no one will be taken in by their possible future claims of being a priest.