Priest Accused of Fondling Woman Pleads Guilty

News 10
April 20, 2012

http://www.10news.com/news/30931281/detail.html

A Roman Catholic priest who fondled a 19-year-old woman at his home the day before New Year's Eve pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor battery charge and was immediately sentenced to three years probation and ordered to perform 150 hours of volunteer work service.


Jose Davila, 53, also known as Father Alexis, was also ordered to stay away from the victim.

According to an amendment to the plea agreement, the parties stipulated that on Dec. 30, 2011, "the defendant engaged in an unlawful touching of an intimate part of the victim's body."

Police said the assault happened at Davila's home in Southcrest while the two were alone. The defendant turned himself in two days later.

The victim, now 20, told police that she and Davila -- an associate pastor at St. Jude's Shrine of the West -- had been acquaintances for several months.