Pinoy Ex-priest Faces Deportation after Imprisonment for Molesting Girl in US

GMA News
February 16, 2012

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/248250/pinoyabroad/pinoy-ex-priest-faces-deportation-after-imprisonment-for-molesting-girl-in-us

A former Catholic priest, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting a girl in California in 2003, may be deported after being freed from prison earlier this year.

According to a report of the news site SFGate, Jose Superiaso, 57, was a former priest at St. Andrew's Church in Daly City.

Superiaso was ordained in the Philippines and went to the US in 1989 to study at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley.

He served at three churches in the San Francisco Archdiocese:

St. Andrew's,

Our Lady of the Pillar in Half Moon Bay, and

Immaculate Heart of Mary in Belmont.

In 2005, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to committing lewd acts with a child under 14 years old.

He was given credit for the almost 2 1/2 years he spent in jail before his conviction, Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County district attorney, explained in the SFGate report.

According to authorities, in 2003, when Superiaso was living in Santa Fe, N.M., he received a call from a young woman he molested 10 years earlier at St. Andrew.

The young woman, then in her 20s, taped her conversations with Superiaso who admitted having a sexual relationship with her when she was underage.

SFGate said the woman asked Superiaso to return to Daly City and when he did, he was arrested.

Superiaso was freed in January and was immediately taken into custody by federal authorities, who intend to ask a judge to deport him to the Philippines, the report said.

Although Superiaso is considered a lawful permanent resident of the United States, he can be deported because he was convicted of a crime, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. - VVP/HS, GMA News