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  Priest Pleads No Contest to Molestation Charges

Monterey County Herald
March 16, 2011

http://www.montereyherald.com/breaking/ci_17626284?nclick_check=1

A Salinas priest pleaded no contest to molestation and possession of child pornography charges on Wednesday, and his attorneys said he will likely receive no jail time.

The Rev. Antonio Cortes was arrested in April 2009 on charges he molested a 16-year-old parishioner at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Salinas.

Attorney Miguel Hernandez said he believed Judge Terrence Duncan was agreeable to a sentence of probation for the priest — barring any new discoveries in a pre-sentencing investigation — because "there was never any actual act" with the youth, and it wasn't clear who had access to computer hard drives when the pornography was found.

Hernandez also said no other victims have been found.

Prosecutors, however, said they had not struck any deal with the defense and planned to urge the judge to consider a prison term for Cortes at his May 4 sentencing.

 
 

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