By Hal Conick
Batavia Republican
March 11, 2010
http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/batavia/topstories/x1336913631/Priest-s-hearing-delayed-due-to-absence-of-judge
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St. Charles, IL — A Catholic priest accused of molesting a St. Charles boy over a period of five years had his hearing delayed by the absence of a judge.
Alejandro Flores, 37, of the 600 block of Brook Forest Avenue, Shorewood, was scheduled to have a hearing early Thursday, but Kane County Associate Judge T. Jordan Gallagher was absent.
Flores, who made the sign of the cross as he entered Judge Thomas E. Mueller’s court room, was quickly sent back as Flores’ representing attorney Glenn Sowa, of Geneva, and Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Debra Bree agreed to bring their cases back before Gallagher at 9 a.m. on March 17.
Flores has been charged with one count of predatory criminal sexual assault, which could carry up to 30 years in prison; two counts of sexual assault, each carrying up to 15 years in prison; and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, which each carry up to seven years in prison.
Still in the custody of the Kane County Jail on $1 million bond, Flores faces up to 67 years in prison.
Authorities said between Jan. 1, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2010, Flores, a member of the Diocese of Joliet, had sexual contact with a St. Charles boy, now 13, who is his godson.
A warrant for Flores' arrest was issued Jan. 15. Flores, who had attempted suicide by jumping off the 20-foot balcony of a Joliet church earlier that month, was picked up from the hospital by Joliet police and transferred to the Kane County Sheriff's Department Jan. 20.
Bree said in court on Jan. 21 that while Flores was in the hospital, he told a fellow Diocese of Joliet priest about an incident in which he went over to the victim's family's house, and was served tequila by the victim's mother. Flores told the priest he passed out, and woke up in the middle of a sex act with the victim, prosecutors said.
Flores was a seminarian assigned to St. Mary's Parish in West Chicago. He later was assigned to Holy Family Parish in Shorewood, and ordained a priest last summer.
Contact: hconick@mysuburbanlife.com
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