By Armando Saldivar
KDBC
May 12, 2008
http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8311429&nav=menu608_2_2
The trial for a visiting Catholic priest began on Monday in an El Paso courtroom. Father Phillip Taban faces charges of sexual assault against an 18-year-old woman while working at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church.
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The pastor of that El Paso Church, Father Francisco Lopez, testified about his first encounter with Taban in march of 2007. He says Taban was sent to El Paso as part of a summer placement program at the end of June. Father Lopez went on to say that Taban told him that there was a girl he had met whom he said he had a good time - specifically sexual relations. Father Lopez did acknowledge that Taban early on said the sex was consensual.
The defense focused on state law that says two adults can have sex without breaking any law, and that Taban was basically left to fend for himself after the allegations surfaced. This, despite the fact that the African priest from Uganda was broke and doesn't even know how to drive. Testimony continued with an El Paso detective talking about the alleged incidents and the investigation.
If convicted, Taban could spend up to 20 years in prison in the United States.
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