The Rev. Robert Gamel was arrested Wednesday in Los Banos
He faces a felony count of possession of child pornography, police say
If convicted, Gamel faces up to three years in custody
The Freson Bee
10 June 2015
Hundreds of locals attended the Ash Wednesday service at St. Joseph’s Church, where the Rev. Bob Gamel spoke of the three disciplines for the season of lent. | THADDEUS MILLER Los Banos Enterprise
A former Los Banos Catholic priest has been charged with possession of child pornography following a 10-month investigation by the city’s police department.
The Rev. Robert Gamel was arrested Wednesday afternoon and booked into the Merced County Jail, according to booking records.
The Merced County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday filed a single felony count against Gamel of possession of matter depicting sexual conduct of person under the age of 18, according to court records.
A warrant was issued for his arrest, but Gamel surrendered Wednesday to the Los Banos Police Department, Cmdr. Jason Hedden confirmed.
Gamel was booked Wednesday afternoon into the Merced County Jail on the charge, posted $20,000 bail just 30 minutes later and was released.
If convicted, Gamel faces up to three years in jail or prison, police confirmed.
Gamel, 65, has been under investigation since Aug. 14, when church officials told police the now-former head of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Los Banos may have obtained from the Internet nude photographs of a teenage parishioner, according to court records obtained by the Merced Sun-Star.
“The investigation has been painstaking, and we have been committed to completing a thorough investigation to determine the best possible outcome. We have to get it right and sometimes that takes time,” police Chief Gary Brizzee said in a news release.
Gamel was placed on administrative leave and was replaced in December as the priest at St. Joseph’s.
The veteran priest had been “celebrating mass on a limited basis” at a ministry for senior citizens. However, as a result of his arrest Wednesday, he will no longer work in a ministry pending the outcome of the criminal case, according to Teresa Dominguez, chancellor for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno.
Dominguez said the church work “very closely” with Los Banos police throughout the case. “And we continue to encourage anyone who has concerns to contact the police,” Dominguez told the Sun-Star. “We are making sure we continue to reach out to the victim and the family and to anyone in the parish community who feels effected by this. Those are our main concerns.”
Police on Aug. 15 seized a laptop, computer tower, CDs and a brown box containing nearly 20 DVDs, many involving erotic-themed male muscle films, according to a copy of a search warrant affidavit obtained by the Sun-Star.
According to the affidavit, Gamel told other priests he had sought out nude photographs of the teenage boy, possibly from a social networking website. Gamel “bragged” to several people “about (his) anonymous Instagram account and how none of them would ever suspect who he was on Instagram,” the affidavit says.
The Rev. Guadalupe Rios told police, “Gamel had informed Rios that (the teenager) had posted nude photographs of himself on the Internet and that Gamel had located the photos and seen them firsthand.
“The investigation reveled that the behavior was limited to possession of an inappropriate photograph of a minor and at this time we do not believe there are any other victims,” Detective Sgt. Ivan Mendez said in the statement.
The affidavit illustrated a pattern of behavior involving Gamel and young men that several church officials described as “uncomfortable,” such as hugging a young male in a locked restroom, rubbing the back of a sleeping teenager and touching young men on their arms, chest and shoulders.
Rios told police Gamel did several things that were “inappropriate for a priest,” the affidavit says.
Police from the beginning of the case said the investigation would take several months. Priests enjoy “confessional privilege,” which protects the confidentiality of certain conversations between a clergyman and a church member. Officers had to examine computers without compromising information that may be protected under that privilege.
New details in priest investigation from search warrant affidavit
Bakersfiled Now (Bakersfield CA)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) – A priest at St. Joseph Parish in Los Banos became so concerned about the behavior of fellow priest Robert Gamel, that he decided to contact the mother of a teenage parishioner to warn her to be careful with Gamel.
This and other allegations are contained in a search warrant affidavit obtained by Eyewitness News, courtesy of the Merced Sun-Star.
Los Banos police served the warrant at the church rectory on Aug. 15. According to the court document, the teenage parishioner, a boy, was seeking spiritual guidance from Gamel. After interviewing the teen, police state he told them he became uncomfortable with the priest because Gamel was constantly touching him on the outside of his clothes.
Gamel reportedly offered to take the teen shopping for clothes. The teen rejected the offer, but Gamel contacted the youth at the church and gave him at least $100 for clothes, according to the affidavit.
“Gamel instructs (parishioner) to buy tight clothes and wear the new clothes to church for him to see. (Parishioner) accepted the money because his family is financially struggling,” investigators wrote in the document.
Police interviewed Gamel’s fellow priest, Father Joe Baca.
According to police, Baca said that at one time he observed Gamel entering a restroom with a young male. The document reads: “Baca was able to see Gamel and the young man and Gamel hugged as the door closed. Baca felt this suspicious as the restroom that the two were entering was a single person restroom which was locked and only Baca and Gamel had keys to.”
The affidavit states police also interviewed another parish priest, Father Guadalupe Rios. On one occasion, Gamel had informed Rios that he was counseling the boy.
The document reads: “Gamel informed Rios that (parishioner) had posted nude photographs of himself on the internet and that Gamel had located the photos and had seen them first hand. Rios warned Gamel of the legal consequences of looking at such photographs as they were considered to be child pornography. Approximately two months after first mentioning the photographs, Gamel approached Rios again and told him that it took some searching, but Gamel had searched for (parishioner) on the internet and located the nude photographs again.”
Police say Rios met with Baca and the two shared information about Gamel’s suspicious behavior with other young adult males. Rios eventually made contact with the teenage parishioner’s mother and warned her to be careful with Gamel.
The parishioner then suddenly stopped checking in with Gamel, according to the affidavit.
Gamel is no stranger to Kern County.
According to the Diocese of Fresno, he served at Christ the King Church in Oildale, St. Joseph Mission Church in Oildale, which no longer exists, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bakersfield, St. Ann’s Church in Ridgecrest, St. Joseph Parish in Boron, and Our Lady of Lourdes in California City.
News of the investigation was made public when the Diocese of Fresno released a letter written by Bishop Armando X. Ochoa stating that Gamel had been placed on leave. The letter was read to the congregations at the church sites where Gamel once served.
Eyewitness News has placed calls to the home where Gamel is currently residing and with the Diocese of Fresno to get his side of the story. Both sites said the message would be passed on to Gamel.
To date, Gamel has not responded.
The good news here is that two priests were concerned enough about Father Gamel’s behaviour that, after discussing the matter, one contacted the teenage boy’s mother and warned her to be careful with Gamel. It looks as though that is the only good news.