Paroled Joliet Diocese Priest Facing Deportation

By Christy Gutowski
Chicago Tribune
July 8, 2013

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/joliet_romeoville/ct-met-priest-deport-20130708,0,4486230.story

Pedophile priest Alejandro Flores faces deportation to Bolivia.

Man convicted of molesting St. Charles boy isn't fighting immigration officials' efforts

A Diocese of Joliet priest who served time in prison for molesting an 8-year-old boy is not expected to fight federal immigration efforts to deport him to his native Bolivia.

Authorities said Alejandro Flores does not plan to appeal his deportation.

Flores was due to be paroled June 6 after serving part of a four-year prison sentence on criminal sexual assault charges. But immigration officials confirmed they took him into immediate custody. He remains at an undisclosed federal facility.

"We have zero say over (his deportation), and certainly wouldn't help (him)," said Edward Flavin, a diocese spokesman. "We're totally against him. He is restricted from any sort of public ministry."

Flavin said Flores' official removal from the priesthood remains under Vatican review. The Joliet Diocese recruited him to come to the United States nine years ago.

Flores pleaded guilty in September 2010 to molesting a St. Charles boy during a five-year period beginning in 2005 when Flores was a seminarian at St. Mary Parish in West Chicago. In exchange for the guilty plea, Kane County prosecutors dropped allegations that he also tried to abuse another minor in the same single-parent family.

Flores, 40, was raised in an orphanage in Bolivia. He later alleged he had been abused for years there, records showed.

A November 2011 Tribune examination of the case found that at least three of Flores' supervisors in the diocese saw him alone with the boys several times. On one of those occasions, the younger child changed clothes in Flores' presence and was overheard calling him "daddy," according to police reports and court records.

The newspaper also learned Flores' June 2009 ordination was delayed twice and that the diocese repeatedly sent him for psychological evaluation.

After the abuse allegations came to light, Flores attempted suicide by jumping from a church choir loft.

At the time of his sentencing, diocese officials said that Flores never should had been ordained.

Late last year, the diocese reached an out-of-court confidential settlement in the case.

The family's attorney, Allen Schwartz, described the settlement as "significant" and praised the diocese's response in the litigation process.

"They're doing great," Schwartz said of both boys. "Essentially, the goal was to try to provide enough income for future therapy, education and ensure that they'll always have enough resources to live out a comfortable life."

Contact: cmgutowski@tribune.com