ARIZONA
Courthouse News Service
By TIM HULL
TUCSON (CN) – A Catholic priest who also taught high school took a mentally disabled parishioner to a hotel room, gave him alcohol and sexually assaulted him, the alleged victim claims in court.
Father Richard Zamorano, a former teacher at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, has been suspended from the Diocese of Tucson since the allegations arose in 2012, a spokeswoman for the diocese said.
“He is currently a priest whose ministries are suspended – he is not able to practice any priestly ministries,” said Steff Koeneman, director of communications for the Diocese of Tucson.
“It was reported to civic authorities, they were aware of it, they did conduct a criminal investigation, and as far as we know that case was closed,” Koeneman added. “But that doesn’t determine what the church does. He is still on suspension as far as the church is concerned.”
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