CALIFORNIA
The Record Searchlight
SACRAMENTO — With jury selection expected to begin mid-month, a suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation was back today in Sacramento County Superior Court for a pre-trial defense motion to try to block statements he allegedly made to a Sacramento diocese official and a private investigator.
The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 33, who was arrested Nov. 30, 2011, is accused 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.
Ojeda, who is free of jail custody on $70,000 bail, was the assistant pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Redding at the time of his arrest.
The Sacramento Bee reported today that Ojeda took the witness stand and said he thought he believed his statements to church officials were confidential.
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