March 24, 2005

Mother obsessed with priest, jury told

STOCKTON (CA)
Modesto Bee

By SUSAN HERENDEEN
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: March 24, 2005, 04:35:29 AM PST

STOCKTON — An Oakdale man testified Wednesday that a woman who is suing two St. Joseph's Catholic Church priests and the Stockton Diocese once complained to him that she was not able to seduce the Rev. Joseph Illo during a trip to Rome.

Edward Tobias, testifying during a civil lawsuit trial in San Joaquin County Superior Court, said the woman seemed to be obsessed with the priest from the Modesto parish and often followed him around the parish.

He said he remembers her complaint vividly.

"She said, 'I did everything I could, but the man is not capable of having sex,'" said Tobias, a St. Joseph's parishioner.

The lawsuit brought by the woman claims that Illo responded improperly in September 2002 when her middle daughter reported concerns about the Rev. Francis Arakal, an associate pastor at St. Joseph's.

The mother claims that Arakal twice touched the breast of her eldest daughter in July 2002 while he was pinning the girl to the ground during a tickle fight at the family's home. She also claims that Arakal asked her youngest daughter to reach into his pants pocket to pull out a priest's collar.

Posted by kshaw at March 24, 2005 08:05 AM