SACRAMENTO (CA)
Sacramento Bee
By Jennifer Garza -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, March 18, 2005
Two former Sacramento diocesan priests who fled the country after charges of sexual abuse are serving as priests in Mexico, news that has outraged victims and local diocesan officials.
The Roman Catholic priests are the Rev. José Luis Urbina, who was convicted of sexually molesting a minor in 1989, and the Rev. Gerardo Beltrán, who disappeared in 1991 after Sacramento police began investigating allegations that he molested two young girls.
Urbina has been serving at his hometown parish in Navojoa, Mexico, for about a decade. While in the Sacramento diocese, Urbina was accused of sexually molesting a boy over the course of several years, in one instance pointing a gun at his victim before molesting him. Urbina admitted guilt but left the country before sentencing.
Beltrán serves in a remote region of southern Mexico.
The Dallas Morning News reported the priests' whereabouts as part of the newspaper's ongoing series on accused priests who are now working in other countries.
Urbina and Beltrán have been wanted by local authorities for more than a decade.
Posted by kshaw at March 18, 2005 07:20 AM