CALIFORNIA
Merced Sun-Star
By Marcos Breton — mbreton@sacbee.com
The crowds have left the side of Uriel Ojeda, the former “rock star” priest facing criminal charges that he sexually molested a young girl.
Roughly 18 months ago, more than 200 of his followers had jammed a Sacramento courtroom when seven criminal counts were filed against the Rev. Ojeda for allegedly abusing the 14-year-old daughter of a former parishioner.
Tall, young, handsome, Ojeda had been the focal point of many stories in The Bee before his arrest in November 2011. I had written about him as well because in September 2008, Ojeda had prayed over my father the night before he died.
This was personal. This was the man who was supposed to be the face of a new church moving beyond a national crisis of sexual abuse.
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