Posted on 10/11/2024 9:01:35 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A priest in California has pleaded no contest to charges of possessing hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material, with his conviction coming just over a year after his arrest.
The Ventura County district attorney’s office said that Father Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara “pled no contest to one felony count of possession of child sexual abuse material.” He had been associated with several churches, including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard, California.
As part of that plea, the 39-year-old priest also admitted that he possessed “over 600 images of child sexual abuse material, including images and videos of prepubescent minors under the age of 12.”
Martinez-Guevara was arrested in September 2023. In announcing the priest’s plea this week, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Martinez-Guevara “betrayed the law and the trust placed in him as a religious leader.”
“Child sexual abuse material preys on the most vulnerable members of our society, and we will continue to ensure that anyone who engages in such heinous crimes is held accountable, no matter their position or title,” the prosecutor said.
The priest is a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. The religious congregation said in a statement following Martinez-Guevara’s plea that his crimes “[do] not reflect the values of our congregation, and we are deeply saddened by his actions.”
“Our hearts go out to all the victims who were hurt and whose lives were harmed in this horrendous way,” the institute said.
Martinez-Guevara’s “canonical process of loss of clerical state will move forward” following the guilty plea, the group said.
Investigations into Martinez-Guevara were initiated in April 2023 after reports were made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A task force of multiple law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation.
The priest is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
May the padre go away for a very long time.
Homo priests are a scourge
Outside of this state (CA), all around the country, readers will be stunned by the headline, then they’ll rationalize it by thinking: “Well, he IS from California, after all, so there you go!”
...
No words for destroying little ones.
He may be a homo, but also a pedo
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I once helped out a lady who was the rectory housekeeper when she was sick. Whew, I walked in to the bedroom and there were pictures of teen boys all over the walls with the focus on their shorts. I know there was a camera in the room because you could just feel it and the minute I finished cleaning, I was told not to come back. Unfortunately, this was years ago before you could say anything against priests but it was an open secret.
The anti-Catholic bigot
I am no more an “Anti-Catholic bigot” than you are an “Anti-Protestant bigot.”
Matthew 18:6.
Turn him over to Satan for destruction of the flesh....
I Corinthians 5:5
Sin in the church of Christ must be dealt with.
All pedophile priest should be put to death. That would send the right message but would probably leave few priest and the Vatican needs a thorough cleansing including the Pope for being an idiot.
They go hand in hand.
Good. Now get him some help by assigning him a safe cell and a prison ministry for life. We need penal colonies. How about one of our big cities. They could rebuild it. Then move them to another city and start again. Like a chain gang, but just cloistered, not terrorized.
Amen !
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