Posted on 09/24/2014 6:32:15 PM PDT by Gamecock
HAMPTONS BAY, Long Island (PIX11)– A Long Island priest is accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl, resulting in her contracting an STD.
Rev. Augusto Cortez, 50, a Catholic priest of the Vincentian congregation, is wanted by police for sexually assaulting a little girl from Long Island, according to police.
Her family, who will not be named in order to avoid identifying the alleged victim, is deeply distraught, particularly because their child’s suspected molester is someone they trusted and turned to for religious guidance.
“It’s the deepest pain that any mother can ever feel,” the victim’s mother said.
Cortez spent numerous holidays and outings with the family.
The mom says Cortez was an invited guest at a recent house party, but at one point she walked in to find her daughter and him alone. That’s how she discovered the alleged abuse.
Her daughter is now in therapy to deal with the emotional issue.
While she does feel safe to talk knowing he won’t be coming back, she says the abuse happened more times than she can count and she was diagnosed with a painful sexually transmitted disease.
South Hampton police questioned Cortez, but he was not arrested.
“I feel like the Church had something to do with him fleeing,” the mother said.
It wasn’t the first time Cortez had been in trouble with the law.
He is currently on probation for molesting a 12-year-old girl in Brooklyn back in 2008, according to court documents. He was working at St. John the Baptist in Bed Stuy. At the time, Vincentians wrote a letter to the court saying they would supervise Cortez while he was on probation and he would be assigned to their headquarters in Philadelphia — not churches on Long Island.
The Vincentian order did not return calls for comment.
A few days later after the initial questioning, the priest disappeared and now, prosecutors say there is an active search for the him.
Michael Dowd is the attorney working with family and is trying to get the word out about the priest.
“This is about protecting not even their own child but knowing he told them there other families he was close to in Nassau and Suffolk,” Dowd said. “The hope is that they will hear this broadcast. See his picture and start asking their children what happened when he was around.”
anyone (an evil thing)!!! that rapes a child quit simply deserves the death penalty
Most.
20 percent go after girls.
Granted this a “minority. “
Does this somehow make you feel better?
Should this make the parents of this poor little girl happy?
Is the poor girl that he raped going to sleep better at night, because “most” priests who rape cildren go after boys.
Being a priest had nothing to do with this demented bastard raping the little girl. Sexual predators are in every walk of life, and every type of faith. I dont care if it’s Catholic, Baptist, Pentacostal, or Morman. He’s a sexual predator that should be locked up with big Leroy, who needs a girlfriend real bad.
A six year old child? The should be a death penalty case. Particularly as he has done it before. What is wrong with people?
Gee, I sure hope he is not lurking about in the dark someplace and mistaken for a burglar and shot or something. That would be too bad. But hey sometimes and itchy trigger finger is God’s messenger.
RC INC will call in their 500$/hr legal representation to muddle things. RC INC is the oldest most profitable multinational corporation on the planet. They have already figured out the cost and will aggresively negotiate to mitigate financial impact
The defense of this kind of situation never fails to amaze me in its creativity in excusing it.
Whose defending it?
Given prior explanations offered up on these matters, I'm wondering how long the thread will go before someone suggests that this particular priest was innocent / seduced / framed?
Anyone who excuses it with *they’re just sinners like the rest of us*, *other people do it too*, *they’re not children because they’re teens*, anything that tries to deflect the attention away from the issue.
Happens all the time.
Doing ANYTHING but outright condemning the act is defending it.
Of course, but the perverts are in all types of positions of trust. Teachers, ministers, priests, cops, coaches, parents etc.
In this case focusing on his status as a priest is not helpful
Nor does anyone appreciate deflection from the issue that the priest is wrong by pointing out how *everyone else is doing it too*.
I rest my case.
oh good grief, nobody here is saying “everyone else is doing it too” except you.
What this priest did is deplorable and anyone who knew deserves the same punishment. Attacking the Catholic Church will not fix the problem.
Posting articles about Priests rapeing children is attacking the Catholic Church?
Any light brought to this will help.
Giving the Catholic Church anonymity fuels the rapists who happen to be priests.
Attacking the Catholic Church is attacking the Catholic Church.
It detracts from the real problem, which is people who do this evil stuff.
The man here is the problem, not the church.
The “Church” knew he was a ralist and allows him to move to another congregation.
Rome is just as guity as he is.
Unfortunately the church has a history of covering up.
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