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	Priest Pleads No Contest to Sex Charge By Joseph G. Cote Nashua Telegraph June 26, 2010 http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/778855-196/priest-pleads-no-contest-to-sex-charge.html?i=1 NASHUA – A Catholic priest arrested for trying to pay for sex pleaded no contest in court on Thursday and agreed to pay a $500 fine. The Rev. William Ventura, 31, of 115 Middlesex St., Chelmsford, Mass., was one of eight men arrested by Nashua Police in April and charged with soliciting an adult for sex via Craigslist. Ventura is a parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Church in Chelmsford, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Boston. He took a leave of absence from the church after his arrest, according to the statement. Ventura has declined to comment on whether he will seek reinstatement, according to The Associated Press. Archdiocese spokesman Terrence Donilon said Ventura was ordained in 2006 and worked at the Chelmsford church since then until his arrest. Ventura was raised in Derry and attended Pinkerton Academy and Hesser College before attending St. John's Seminary College, according to a profile in the Archdiocese of Boston's newspaper, The Pilot. He previously worked at St. Joseph's Parish in Needham, Mass., according to the profile. Three Nashua men were arrested along with Ventura during a sting set up by Nashua Police at a local motel. In all, police charged eight men after they allegedly arrived at an unnamed Nashua motel with the intention of paying for sex in response to a Craigslist advertisement placed by police, according to police. Prostitution stings are rare in Nashua. One was made in 2008 and two in 2009, according to police statistics. Nashua Police Capt. Scott Howe said the arrests don't indicate a spike in prostitution locally, but rather a more concerted effort by police to curb it. "It's something we think is occurring, and this is our effort to monitor it and keep it under control and keep our city clean," he said. Each of the men faced a single count of prostitution, a class A misdemeanor. Contact: jcote@nashuatelegraph.com
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