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	Police Investigating Tillamook Priest By Ashbel S. Green The Oregonian [Tillamook OR] April 2, 2007 http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/04/police_investigating_tillamook.html A Catholic priest in Tillamook has been placed on administrative leave while police investigate accusations that he molested a child in Portland. The Rev. Joseph V. Hoang, 39, was put on leave March 19 after the Portland Archdiocese received a report of sexual abuse against him, according to church spokesman Bud Bunce. Church officials later learned that a criminal investigation by Portland police already was underway, Bunce said. Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland police spokesman, confirmed that a detective was investigating child sex-abuse accusations against Hoang, but would not release details, including the victim's age, the severity of the alleged abuse or when it might have occurred. Priests and other Catholic officials are automatically placed on administrative leave when potentially credible sex abuse allegations surface, Bunce said. Church officials have not looked into the charges against Hoang and will wait for the police investigation to finish before deciding what to do next, he added. Hoang has been the pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tillamook since September 2004, Bunce said. The allegations did not involve a Sacred Heart parishioner, he said. Hoang, who was ordained a priest in 1999, was the parochial vicar at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Cedar Mill from 2002 until his move to Tillamook, Bunce said. Before that, Hoang worked in St. Joseph's in Salem and St. Mary's in Eugene. Francisco Ravelo, a Beaverton lawyer who represents Hoang, did not return messages on Monday seeking comment. The Portland Archdiocese has been involved in civil lawsuits over priest sex abuse for at least two decades. But only one priest has ever been charged criminally in Oregon. The Rev. Thomas Laughlin pleaded guilty in 1983 to molesting two boys in Multnomah County. Laughlin is no longer a priest. Police have investigated at least two other priests accused of abusing children. In 2001, Portland police investigated accusations that the Rev. Vincent Minh molested two children in the 1980s. Although investigators found the accusations to be credible, too much time had passed to prosecute. Minh left the archdiocese after the allegations surfaced. The Rev. Donald Durand was accused of molesting a boy in the 1990s, but the accuser would not cooperate and charges were never filed. Durand, who has been accused of molesting more than a dozen boys, denies the allegations. The vast majority of priest-abuse claims in Oregon involve decades-old allegations that were too old to prosecute. In Oregon, criminal charges generally must be filed against an alleged abuser before the victim turns 24. Civil suits, on the other hand, can be filed decades after the abuse occurred. In 2004, Portland became the first Catholic diocese in the country to seek bankruptcy protection from priest-abuse lawsuits. A $75 million settlement was reached late last year. It is expected to be approved this month. Hoang was 7 when he and his family escaped Vietnam in 1975, according to an article in the Oregon Catholic Sentinel. He later attended schools in Virginia and California. He entered Mount Angel Seminary in 1992.
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