Plea Hearing for Woodburn Priest Accused of Sex Abuse Postponed

By Helen Jung
The Oregonian
September 17, 2012

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/09/plea_hearing_for_woodburn_prie.html

Rev. Angel Armando Perez.

A plea hearing scheduled for Monday in the sex-abuse case for Woodburn priest Angel Armando Perez has been postponed.

Marion County Circuit Judge Thomas Hart, who was assigned to hear the case, recused himself from the case Monday morning. He declined through his clerk to comment on his reasons.

Prosecutors and attorneys for the 46-year-old priest are scheduled to meet for a status conference with the new judge assigned to the case, Marion County Circuit Judge Susan Tripp, on Monday, Sept. 24.

Perez has been charged with first-degree sexual abuse, use of a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, furnishing liquor to a minor, tampering with physical evidence and drunken driving.

Police said a 12-year-old boy had gone to spend the night at Perez's home on Aug. 12 after attending a community church event. He told authorities he woke up to "a couple of flashes" and found Perez next to him on an air mattress, with one hand on the boy's genitals and the other holding a cellphone.