"I Don't Expect to See Him Again': Priest's Whereabouts Still a Mystery

The Oregonian
August 27, 2015

http://www.oregonlive.com/sherwood/index.ssf/2015/08/i_dont_expect_to_see_him_again_priest.html

Police and church leaders have neither seen nor heard from the Rev. Ysrael Bien since a judge signed a warrant for his arrest last week.

The reality that the priest may not return from the Philippines leaves the criminal investigation unfinished and his Sherwood congregation without a chance to face the man they once admired.

"I don't ever expect to see him again, but I think in his heart of hearts he knows how many people he's hurt," said parishioner Peter Hainley. "Owning it would be a really good step toward helping people heal."

Bien was the beloved pastor of St. Francis Catholic Church. He was trusted, even considered charmingly innocent.

Now, he's AWOL.

Bien, 34, is accused of hiding a camera in a bathroom at the church.

He left the country without permission shortly after Archbishop Alexander Sample put him on administrative leave in June, according to the archdiocese. He declined when the archbishop instructed him to return, then he stopped responding altogether. Sample has not heard from Bien since early August.

There is no Catholic police force to fetch him. Extradition seems unlikely. The decision to return may be his alone.

Open investigation

Sherwood police believe Bien went to the Philippines, where he was born and his family lives, but they don't know where exactly, or if he's still there.

Investigators are still talking to people to determine Bien's location. And they're still interested in hearing from people who know Bien or attended St. Francis and might have information to share.

"He may be gone, but the charges aren't, nor will they go away," Capt. Ty Hanlon said.

So, the case remains open.

Even if police pinpoint Bien's whereabouts, they're not sure whether he could be extradited. He faces misdemeanor charges of invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence and initiating a false report.

Investigators say the complex process of international extradition could be particularly challenging in this case because it doesn't involve more serious felony charges.

"I believe it would be very difficult to have him extradited here," Hanlon said.

Court records show Bien bought a "wall socket hidden camera" online from SpyGuy Security on March 30. A young parishioner discovered it April 26 and turned it over to Bien. The priest initially pretended to go to police, then finally did May 20 under pressure from parishioners, the records say. But he told investigators that he no longer had the camera -- someone had stolen it from him.

Police don't know how long or how often the camera was stuck to the wall in the single-toilet men's bathroom. The device would have been easy to put up and take down, Hanlon said. The bathroom, which is off the vesting room where the priest and altar servers prepare for Mass, was accessible to anyone in the church, he said.

Investigators didn't find the camera, a memory card for the camera or any known victims. They looked for potential victims through interviewing parishioners and church staff, Hanlon said. A couple of them thought they may have seen the camera that looked like a power outlet, he said, but no one could recall many details.

Hanlon said they're not sure whom Bien may have wanted to record or if he had an intended target.

Canon law case

Though law enforcement might be stalled by Bien's absence, leaders at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland are just getting started.

The archbishop said he plans to use canon law -- the church's own legal system -- to make a case to the Vatican that Bien should be stripped of his role as a priest.

Some Portland-area Catholics have criticized leaders at the diocese for not moving more quickly with canon law proceedings against Bien. Michael Ritty, a canon lawyer in New York, said it's customary to wait for law enforcement to finish its case.

That's because Catholic leaders in the United States have to be careful about the separation of church and state, Ritty said, and don't want one case leaking into the other.

Sample said he hopes the canonical case will resolve in the next two to three months, though it could take longer. Bien has the right to defense under canon law, but he doesn't have to be present for the case to move forward.

Dismissal is the harshest punishment within canon law. But even that, Sample said, won't give him a complete sense of justice.

"Does someone ever fully get over something like this? I don't know. Will I ever fully get over this? I don't think so," Sample said.

"Part of me hopes I don't. I need to carry this in my heart so that I always remember this experience and learn what I can from it."

-- Melissa Binder and Emily E. Smith

mbinder@oregonian.com or 503-294-7656