Bail for former Redding priest cut to $700K; ex-Redding cleric faces child molestation trial

SACRAMENTO (CA)
Record Searchlight

SACRAMENTO — A suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation had his $5 million bail reduced Thursday to $700,000 during a hearing in Sacramento County Superior Court.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 32, was arrested Nov. 30, 2011, after surrendering to law enforcement officials in Sacramento County after the diocese received a complaint from a parishioner’s family. His original bail was so high because prosecutors claimed he was a flight risk.

Ojeda, who had been assistant pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Redding, is accused of seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a teenage girl over a two-year span — starting when she was 14 — in Sacramento and Shasta counties, according to the criminal complaint filed against him by the Sacramento County district attorney’s office.

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