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	Former New Mexico Priest to Enter Plea June 12 Boston.com [New Mexico] June 1, 2006 http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/06/01/ former_new_mexico_priest_to_enter_plea_june_12/ ALBUQUERQUE --A former Raton priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor will enter a felony plea in federal court here later this month, according to court records. The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. June 12 before U.S. Magistrate Robert H. Scott. The court had previously vacated the start of his trial, which had been set for that date. A federal grand jury in Albuquerque indicted the Rev. George Silva, 73, in February on four counts alleging he transported a 14-year-old boy from New Mexico to France and Portugal for illicit sexual activity last year. Silva has pleaded not guilty to charges of transporting a minor in interstate or foreign commerce with intent to engage in criminal activity and travel in foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The allegations were first reported to Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe in June 2005. The archdiocese placed Silva on restricted status after an internal investigation found "credible evidence" to support the allegations. Parishioners of St. Patrick and St. Joseph parishes in Raton were informed last October. Silva underwent treatment at a church-sponsored facility in Ohio. When he returned in November, he told the archdiocese he had decided to leave the priesthood. Silva was ordained to the priesthood in 1997 in Santa Fe. He was a Christian Brother for 17 years before his studies for the priesthood at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn. Before being assigned to Raton, he was a priest at St. Francis Xavier parish in Clayton, N.M.
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