“Former Catholic pastor pleads guilty to child porn, gets 4-year sentence” & related article

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Chicago Tribune

25 April 2017

George Houde     Chicago Tribune

A former associate pastor at an Arlington Heights church was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday for distributing child pornography, according to court records.

Clovis Vilchez-Parra, 36, also was ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to the charge during a hearing in Cook County’s Rolling Meadows branch court. Numerous other pornography charges were dropped in exchange for his plea.

Vilchez-Parra was a priest at the Mision San Juan Diego Catholic Church at the time of his arrest in 2015 by police in Palatine, where he lived in housing provided by the Archdiocese of Chicago, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Vilchez-Parra used computer file-sharing software to locate, download and distribute pornographic images of children younger than 13. The computer activity was traced by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, prosecutors said. Authorities obtained a search warrant and found the images on a laptop computer and a flash drive at his residence, prosecutors said.

After his arrest, the archdiocese said in a statement, Vilchez-Parra was withdrawn from ministry “pending the resolution of this matter.”

A native of Peru, Vilchez-Parra came to the U.S. in 2007 and worked at Our Lady of Mercy in Chicago before going to Mision San Juan Diego, where he had been associate pastor for 18 months.

Judge James Karahalios gave Vilchez-Parra 460 days credit for time served on electronic monitoring.

George Houde is a freelance reporter.

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Child porn charges filed against Catholic priest from Arlington Heights

Chicago Tribune

25 April 2017

George Houde and John Keilman       Chicago Tribune

A priest assigned to a Catholic church in Arlington Heights was ordered held in lieu of $175,000 bond Wednesday after authorities said they discovered disturbing pornographic images of children as young as 5 on his laptop computer.

The Rev. Clovis Javier Vilchez-Parra, 34, was charged with reproduction of child pornography and felony possession of child pornography after an investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Vilchez-Parra is an associate pastor at the Mision San Juan Diego Catholic church in Arlington Heights.

At Vilchez-Parra’s bond hearing, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Lorna Amado-Chevlin told a judge that Vilchez-Parra had used file-sharing software to locate, download and distribute images of children younger than 13 involved in sex acts.

Police monitoring the file-sharing service became aware of Vilchez-Parra, authorities said, and on Monday executed a search warrant at his Palatine residence, provided to him by the Archdiocese of Chicago. They recovered a laptop and thumb drive that contained the images, Amado-Chevlin said.

Judge Joseph Cataldo said the six-figure bond was justified because Vilchez-Parra was in a position of authority and was accused of a crime involving children. He ordered the priest not to have contact with anyone younger than 18, and to have no access to the Internet or cellphones.

Defense attorney Joe Roddy said the archdiocese had assigned him to represent Vilchez-Parra, but it would not post bond for the priest. The case will be back in court March 17.

No one was available to speak about Vilchez-Parra at Mision San Juan Diego on Wednesday morning. The archdiocese said in a statement that it had withdrawn Vilchez-Parra from ministry “pending the resolution of this matter,” and will cooperate with authorities.

Vilchez-Parra, a native of Peru, came to the U.S. in 2007. Amado-Chevlin said he worked at Our Lady of Mercy in Chicago before going to Mision San Juan Diego, where he has been associate pastor for 1 1/2 years.

One Response to “Former Catholic pastor pleads guilty to child porn, gets 4-year sentence” & related article

  1. Sylvia says:

    I wonder why he left Peru ?

    Imagine, getting his jollies from looking at children, some as young as 5, involved in sex acts!

    And now, off to jail for four years. Hopefully in those years he will be defrocked.

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