Priest's Statements to Church Officials Are Admissible, Judge Rules

Record Searchlight
July 3, 2013

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/jul/03/priests-statements-church-officials-are-admissible/

SACRAMENTO — A suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation lost his bid today to try to block statements he allegedly made to a Sacramento diocese official and a private investigator.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled today that the statements made by the Rev. Uriel Ojeda to church officials can be used against him during his upcoming trial, the Sacramento Bee reported this morning.

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.