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	Details Surface in Case against Priest By Clifford Ward Chicago Tribune January 21, 2010 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-met-0122-flores-20100121,0,5785447.story The Catholic priest who attempted suicide after being accused of sexually assaulting a young boy had a close relationship with the boy's family, authorities said Thursday. The Rev. Alejandro Flores, 37, was arraigned in Kane County Court on seven felony counts that allege the Bolivian-born priest molested the boy over a five-year period, starting in January 2005, when the boy would have been 8. Flores, who was ordained last year, was a seminarian assigned to St. Mary Catholic Church in West Chicago when the alleged abuse began. Authorities alleged that abuse also took place at the boy's home and in Flores' vehicle. Flores was arrested Wednesday after his release from a Joliet-area hospital where he had been taken following an apparent suicide attempt this month. Church officials said Flores, who had knowledge of the abuse investigation against him, had hurled himself from the balcony of a shuttered Joliet church. He had been serving at a Shorewood church when the abuse allegations surfaced. Flores did not need assistance to enter or leave the courtroom Thursday and did not show any obvious signs of injury. Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Deb Bree told the judge that the boyfriend of the boy's mother thought he had seen Flores and the boy engaged in sexual contact on two occasions. And in a bizarre revelation, Bree relayed a conversation a fellow priest had with Flores while Flores was hospitalized. Flores allegedly told the other priest that he had been at the boy's house several months earlier, and that the mother had served him tequila. Flores said he fell asleep and later awoke to find himself having sexual contact with the youth. Geneva attorney Glenn Sowa said several concerned parishioners from one of the churches where Flores served had hired him to represent the priest. "Obviously, we intend to enter a plea of not guilty, and we'll move forward from there," Sowa said. Bree said Flores had surrendered his passport to authorities. He is being held in the Kane County jail in lieu of $1 million bail. His next court date was set for Feb. 10.
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