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	On the Run By Florence F. Hibionada Sun.Star November 7, 2011 http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo/feature/2011/11/07/run-189199 WHERE is Fr. Lowe Bretana Dongor? What is the fate that awaits him as he faces canonical punishment and charges of larceny and possession of child pornography in the United States? What went wrong on his long-time dream and aspiration to become a priest and share the vocation with children? Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos. With a default warrant issued by Judge Andrew L. Mandell of the Fitchburg District Court in Worcester, Massachusetts, the 35-year-old Barotac Nuevo native is now a fugitive. This as Fr. Dongor left United States while under personal recognizance of his former diocese following a “not guilty” plea during the September 12, 2011 arraignment. The order for his arrest came after his failure to appear in court last October 25, 2011. By then, Fr. Dongor was already in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, where two days earlier of his Worcester Court date, he celebrated mass for hundreds of townmates at the town’s parish. A witness described Fr. Dongor’s demeanor as “really happy… he did not show signs that he was disturbed or under some kind of problem.” Fr. Dongor in that Sunday mass in his hometown even had his homily focused on “love with all of your heart and love with all of your mind,” followed with stress on the commandment, “Love your neighbor.” “He was all okay and even spoke to us against pride… how forgiveness is important and easy because there is no price to it… he did mention though about his diocese in Worcester saying you cannot be too strict or else the parishioners will leave,” a source said in an exclusive interview. Other than the October 23 mass, Fr. Dongor was also present in another gathering of a parishioner and townmate. He came dressed in his priestly “clerical-attire” and was in high spirits throughout the party. Meantime, the order for his arrest is out with further orders from a US Court not to use computers and not to have unsupervised contact with children under 14. News wires reported that it was in July of 2011 when he was placed on “administrative leave” and relieved of duties as associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Fitchburg and from any public ministry. The leave of absence came after State police were notified by an independent computer service that one of Fr. Dongor's laptops contained images of child pornography. According to court documents, the images depicted prepubescent girls around the ages of 10 and 11 in various states of undress. Further news reports from Worcester also stated that Dongor allegedly admitted to police in an interview on July 1 that on several occasions, he stole “$40 or $60” from the parish office in Fitchburg to wire home to his family in the Philippines. “He also admitted to regularly visiting a subscription website that he knew contained images of child pornography. He allegedly said this occurred from August 2010 to June 2011, while he lived at the parish in Fitchburg,” the Worcester Telegram and Gazette news went. He told police he would spend 30 to 45 minutes on the website each time he visited, viewing nude images of girls who were “11 to 12 years of age,” and would also use search engines on the Internet to seek out child pornography.” Fr. Dongor spent his years at Barotac Nuevo High School, where he is now part of the Class 1993. In Manila, he studied at the University of Santo Tomas and Adamson University and had further studies at the Our Lady of the Angels Seminary in Quezon City. It was there at the Our Lady of the Angels where Father Dongor met Augustinian Priest, Fr. Peter R. Precourt. Fr. Precourt was instrumental in his decision to go to the United States and in 2003, went to Worcester to live and study at Assumption College. That stint was also short-lived as then moved to the parish where he said, the Diocese’s priests were “very supportive.” Early years of Fr. Dongor’s stay in Worcester were spent as summer internships at St. Joseph’s, Charlton, the Holy Angels in Upton, St. Christopher’s, and St. Bernadette’s at Northborough.
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