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Priest accused of indecent exposure suspended from work
By Drew Joseph
SAN ANTONIO — A Catholic priest arrested Tuesday for allegedly exposing himself to an undercover police officer at Olmos Park has been temporarily banned from working as a priest, according to the religious group he was a member of. The priest, Alberto Torres Trevino, 63, was charged with indecent exposure. “His faculties to serve as a priest have been temporarily removed until this legal matter is fully addressed,” said Rev. James Wuerth, a spokesman for the Missionaries of the Holy Family, which describes itself as a global Catholic congregation with over 900 priests. Wuerth, who is based at the group's North America office in St. Louis, said Trevino was not affiliated with a particular church, but worked weekend assignments at a number of churches in the San Antonio area. Trevino allegedly rubbed his genitals while sitting on a park bench, then began pleasuring himself on a nearby embankment, according to a San Antonio police report. He allegedly approached an undercover officer who asked Trevino what he liked to do, officials said. Trevino responded “almost anything,” the report said. Trevino allegedly exposed himself to the officer and touched him through the outside of the jeans. The officer said he was going to get protection, according to the report, and then gave a signal to nearby officers who took Trevino into custody. Barbara Dorris, the outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called on local Catholic leaders to help authorities with the case. In a statement, Dorris said Trevino's alleged crime might not have been his only one, and encouraged any victims of his possible crimes to contact police. “To the local church hierarchy, we plead: don't be passive,” Dorris said in the statement. Contact: djoseph@express-news.net
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