SQLFusion - Priest charged with sexual abuse faints in court as new allegations arise

Priest charged with sexual abuse faints in court as new allegations arise

The Chronicle (Illinois)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 11:27 a.m.

ST. CHARLES – After additional allegations of sexual misconduct were read aloud in court this morning, the priest charged with molesting a St. Charles boy fainted.

Alejandro Flores, 37, is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault, and is in jail on $1 million bail.

During this morning's hearing, Flores' attorney Glenn Sowa asked Associate Judge Jordan Gallagher to reduce bail to $200,000 and allow Flores to attend a treatment facility for troubled clergy in Maryland.

As attorneys finished their arguments, Flores claimed – through his Spanish to English interpreter – that he didn't feel well and slowly crumbled to the floor.

The courtroom was cleared and Gallagher continued the hearing until tomorrow morning.

Sowa said Flores was sweating profusely and his color had gone before he went limp and fell to the floor. Assistant State's Attorney Deb Bree said she didn't see a change in color or sweating, but Flores swayed before slowly falling toward the floor.

Flores was taken back to the jail in a wheelchair to be treated by the nurse on staff, according to Sowa.

Before Flores' departure, Bree told Gallagher that there are other allegations besides the boy in St. Charles - who prosecutors say was molested by Flores over a period of five years, beginning in 2005 when the boy was 8-years-old.

Bree said the boy's brother has also said Flores attempted to touch him sexually.

Additionally, a "fellow seminarian" told investigators that when he was 17 he had sexual contact with Flores.

The Rev. William Dewan testified that the Joliet Diocese will pay for Flores' treatment at St. Luke's Institute in Silver Spring, Md. Dewan is the head pastor at Holy Family Parish in Shorewood where Flores last served.

He also said that the diocese already provided psychological treatment to Flores in March 2009 after he was found viewing pornography depicting "young men."

Mary Ellen Thomas, a friend and English teacher to Flores, also testified that Flores will live in Joliet if he's released on bail, but she wasn't sure where.

Flores is a citizen of Bolivia who is in the United States on a religious workers visa, according to attorneys.

Thomas also told Gallagher that she provided Flores with nearly all of his assets, which includes about $8,000 in stocks and about $5,000 in an IRA account.

Flores also had about $7,600 in cash on his person when he was arrested and $11,126 in the bank, Thomas testified. Flores was also given a Honda Civic by a friend, Thomas said.

Thomas was appointed power of attorney when Flores was arrested in January.

The diocese has said they will not pay for housing for Flores should he be released. If Gallagher agrees to the treatment in Maryland, Flores must be out of jail for 30 days before he can begin, Bree said.

It is unclear where he would live during that time. Flores has no family in the U.S., she said.

Details surface in sex abuse case against priest

Chicago Brekaing News Centre

January 21, 2010 9:42 PM

The Catholic priest who attempted suicide after being accused of sexually assaulting a young boy had a close relationship with the boy's family, authorities said Thursday.

The Rev. Alejandro Flores, 37, was arraigned in Kane County Court on seven felony counts that allege the Bolivian-born priest molested the boy over a five-year period, starting in January 2005, when the boy would have been 8.

Flores, who was ordained last year, was a seminarian assigned to St. Mary Catholic Church in West Chicago when the alleged abuse began. Authorities alleged that abuse also took place at the boy's home and in Flores' vehicle.

Flores was arrested Wednesday after his release from a Joliet-area hospital where he had been taken following an apparent suicide attempt this month.

Church officials said Flores, who had knowledge of the abuse investigation against him, had hurled himself from the balcony of a shuttered Joliet church. He had been serving at a Shorewood church when the abuse allegations surfaced.

Flores did not need assistance to enter or leave the courtroom Thursday and did not show any obvious signs of injury.

Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Deb Bree told the judge that the boyfriend of the boy's mother thought he had seen Flores and the boy engaged in sexual contact on two occasions.

And in a bizarre revelation, Bree relayed a conversation a fellow priest had with Flores while Flores was hospitalized. Flores allegedly told the other priest that he had been at the boy's house several months earlier, and that the mother had served him tequila. Flores said he fell asleep and later awoke to find himself having sexual contact with the youth.

Geneva attorney Glenn Sowa said several concerned parishioners from one of the churches where Flores served had hired him to represent the priest.

"Obviously, we intend to enter a plea of not guilty, and we'll move forward from there," Sowa said.

Bree said Flores had surrendered his passport to authorities. He is being held in the Kane County jail in lieu of $1 million bail. His next court date was set for Feb. 10.

--Clifford Ward