BishopAccountability.org
	Parish Official Ousted over Abuse Conviction By Abe Levy San Antonio Express-News June 1, 2011 http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Parish-official-ousted-over-abuse-conviction-1404007.php The pastoral council president of a Catholic church on the far West Side was removed from his post two weeks ago after a Bexar County court convicted him of molesting his underage granddaughter. The man's removal shocked many at Resurrection of the Lord Catholic Church, 7990 Military Drive, who learned of it only by word of mouth. Some have begun to question when the parish priest, Monsignor Adolfo Valdivia Aguirre, knew of the man's past and whether he acted swiftly enough. Abel Felan Verastegui, 70, was indicted nearly five years ago by a Bexar County grand jury on seven counts, including aggravated sexual assault, but pled to indecency with a child March 25. His granddaughter, now 21, said he molested her from ages 7 to 15. Church members said they would be in the dark today had one of them not searched a jail record for unrelated reasons and found his last name. Verastegui denied the claim in court documents, saying the girl had a vendetta against him for not donating to a school fund drive. He was sentenced on April 13 by Judge Lori I. Valenzuela of the 437th District Court to spend six weekends in Bexar County Jail, pay a $1,500 fine, register as a sex offender and undergo electronic monitoring, among other conditions. The court granted an exception for him to live with his ailing wife despite their home's location in the 7400 block of Bronco Lane, within 1,000 feet of Westwood Terrace Elementary School. And he was allowed to go to the noon Mass on Sundays at the parish as long as his wife accompanies him. A parishioner for at least 18 years, he has been its council president for most of Valdivia's five-year tenure. He also has been sacristan for the noon Mass on Sundays, a job church members said had him directing underage altar servers. Church members described him as the parish's "second in command," saying he handled key administrative duties for the priest such as scheduling the use of parish facilities and children's baptisms and was exclusively authorized to count money after Masses. Repeated calls Tuesday to Verastegui's home and a knock on his door were not answered. All volunteers and employees in Catholic parishes working with minors are mandated to have a criminal background check every three years. Neither the priest nor the church members could confirm whether Verastegui had this check done. "That's a good question," Valdivia said. "I don't keep records of criminal background checks." Valdivia said he acted appropriately and parish children were never compromised. But he said he could not recall when or how he learned of Verastegui's troubles. "I don't remember the details, but once I found out about the issue, I followed the policy of the archdiocese, and he is no longer involved in any ministry," Valdivia said. Pat Rodgers, spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, said he was unaware of the matter but that members of pastoral councils typically don't undergo background checks because they don't deal directly with children. For sacristans, it depends on whether their duties entail only preparing items for Mass, he said, or also interacting with underage altar servers. The priest announced to staff May 16 that Verastegui was dismissed of all ministry. News has slowly filtered out, but no public announcement has been made, said Ben Acovio, who coordinates Eucharistic ministers at the noon Sunday Mass. He said he feels pity for Verastegui, describing him as a beloved lay leader who "had ghosts that he should have dealt with earlier." However, he questions how Valdivia would not have known about the indictment in 2006, because the priest and Verastegui were close. "Monsignor more than likely has known about it from the onset," Acovio said. "He knows the (Verastegui) family well. If the monsignor had been doing his job, then our children would not have been around him a lot earlier." Contact: alevy@express-news.net
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.