KSBY
July 20, 2007
http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=6820413
Pismo Beach — We are learning new and disturbing details about one of the three men arrested in an undercover operation at a privately owned local beach.
It happened on Tuesday afternoon, around 3:00 p.m. in the parking lot of Pirate's Cove, a nude beach, located off Cave Landing Road in Avila Beach.
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It turns out one of the three men arrested is an associate pastor at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Nipomo.
The Sheriff's Department set up the sting because they had been receiving complaints from local residents about people engaging in sexual behavior in the trails and bushes that lead to the nude beach.
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Pirate's Cove is one of the most scenic areas on the Central Coast but investigators said something seedy is happening here.
"Unfortunately, it seems to have become a draw for people who want to engage in sexual acts in the bushes and on the trails in that area and also it's kind of famous for having a nude or semi nude beach," said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Brian Hascall.
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On Tuesday, an undercover sting led to the arrest of three men.
Further investigation revealed one of the men is an associate pastor at a Catholic Church in Nipomo.
Sheriff's deputies said 52-year-old, Geronimo Cuevas was standing in the bushes off the trail that leads down to the beach at Pirate's Cove, masturbating.
When he was approached by an undercover agent, investigators said he grabbed the deputy's crotch.
People who knew Cuevas as a man of the cloth are shocked by the allegations.
"I think that's unbelievable. I mean I've seen him. He serves his masses. He's been a preacher over there for quite sometime. It's just absolutely unbelievable," said Wes Lingerfelt.
"I'm really embarrassed about it. I don't think it should be happening," said one community member.
The Diocese of Monterey, which oversees Catholic churches on the Central Coast, released this statement.
"Father Cuevas has been placed on administrative leave. He no longer has any faculties to function as a priest. The Diocese of Monterey will fully cooperate in the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Department's investigation."
The Sheriff Department's sting at Pirate's Cove lasted three hours.
Earlier this week the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a $600 million payout to settle claims in the priest child sex abuse scandal.
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