By Sunita Vijayan
Salinas Californian
April 24, 2009
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20090424/NEWS01/904240327
The Monterey County District Attorney's Office on Thursday added two felony counts of possession of child pornography against a Salinas priest already accused of sodomizing a 16-year-old boy.
Charges against the Rev. Antonio Cortes of St. Mary of The Nativity Catholic Church in east Salinas now total a combined 15 felony and misdemeanor counts.
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| The Rev. Antonio Cortes |
Salinas police said Thursday the new charges stem from evidence investigators recovered from a personal laptop confiscated through a search warrant conducted at Cortes' home, on church grounds. Police said they discovered numerous child pornography videos contained in the computer's hard drive.
On Wednesday, Cortes, 41, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of sodomy on a person under the age of 18 and 12 misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to a minor, child cruelty, child molestation and immoral acts before a child. Cortes was arrested at the church office on April 16.
He is being held in county jail on a $750,000 bail. Superior Court Judge Adrienne Grover denied a motion for bail reduction by Cortes' attorneys on Wednesday.
Miguel Hernandez, a Salinas attorney who with J. Hernandez is representing Cortes, said he anticipates his client being arraigned on the additional charges today.
"The plea is not guilty and we will proceed with the law that says he's presumed innocent," Hernandez said.
Prosecutor Rolando Mazariegos, a county deputy district attorney, said Thursday that the amended complaint filed alleges Cortes had knowingly possessed movies of underage boys engaged in and simulating sexual conduct.
Hernandez said he has decided against filing an appeal with the 6th District Court of Appeal, stating that the new charges may render his initial argument of bail reduction moot.
The prosecution argued against the bail reduction, claiming Cortes is a potential flight risk - concerns stemming from the possibility that the Catholic Church might help relocate the defendant.
According to the court records that referred to the Salinas police affidavit, Cortes allegedly sodomized the boy on April 14. It further alleges that Cortes began counseling the teen at age 14 when the boy spoke to him about his girlfriend two to three years ago in Greenfield. In response, records show Cortes allegedly began giving the boy "spiritual massages," involving rubbing of the entire body. After each encounter, the court documents said, Cortes would provide the boy with alcohol.
A search warrant, as described through the affidavit, said Cortes' cell phone contained stored images of juveniles - one of which was an unidentified young boy with his shirt off.
The affidavit further cites two condoms found in Cortes' wallet and stored text messages in Cortes' cell phone in which he was allegedly soliciting an exchange of pornographic images from an unknown person.
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