By Sunita Vijayan
The Californian
December 15, 2011
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20111214/NEWS09/111214023
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| Rev. Antonio Cortes of St. Mary of the Nativity Church listens in March in court after pleading no contest to charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy and possessed child pornography. / Scott MacDonald/The Salinas Californian file photo |
A no bail bench warrant was issued today for a former Salinas priest accused of violating his probation terms including failing to register as a sex offender following his release from jail, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said.
The Rev. Antonio Cortes was arrested in April 2009, accused of sexually molesting a teenage boy while he was a priest at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Salinas. Cortes pleaded no contest in March to 14 counts that included sodomy, child molestation, possession of child pornography, furnishing liquor to a minor, child endangerment and immoral acts in the presence of a minor. The sodomy and possession of child pornography counts are felonies while the balance of charges are misdemeanors.
Cortes was sentenced in May to a year in jail and three years of probation.
Rolando Mazariegos, a county deputy district attorney, said the Probation Department filed a violation of probation petition against Cortes – alleging that he failed to report to them within three days of release from jail and provide a change of address. Mazariegos said Cortes is also accused of failing to register as a sex offender within five days of release from jail.
Cortes was released from jail on Nov. 15, he said.
During today’s hearing, Mazariegos said, Cortes’ attorney, Miguel Hernandez, told the judge that the defendant went to Mexico.
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