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  Priest Arrested on Child-Related Charges

By Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune (New Mexico)
December 18, 1998

A Roman Catholic priest who also served as an Albuquerque police chaplain was arraigned today on charges of promoting prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Robert Patrick Malloy, 41, was booked into City-County Jail on Thursday night on three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of promoting prostitution, according to a City-County Jail booking sheet.

Malloy was released early this morning after posting $12,000 bail, jail officials said.

Details on the case are scarce today because all criminal complaints, search warrants and other court documents were sealed by state District Judge James Blackmer.

Blackmer said in an interview that, if he had not sealed the case, it would be "likely to cause unnecessary stress on juvenile witnesses and possibly prejudice the priest himself."

"I want to make sure everyone gets a fair trial without unnecessary and undue hardship," Blackmer said.

Albuquerque police Lt. Ray Schultz said: "There's nothing we can talk about right now. Officers are proceeding along in a very careful investigation."

Police obtained a warrant to search a vehicle, Schultz said.

Malloy has been a volunteer chaplain with the Albuquerque Police Department for more than 10 years, Schultz said.

He was appointed pastor at Queen of Heaven, 5311 Phoenix Ave. N.E., in May 1995, said Sister Nancy Kazik, vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Catholic Center in Albuquerque.

Before that, he was pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish from June 1991. He also served as parochial vicar at Holy Ghost, Annunciation and Assumption, all parishes in Albuquerque.

His first assignment was at Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Las Vegas, N.M., Kazik said.

Malloy was ordained May 21, 1983, she said.

Until this week, Malloy had been an exemplary priest, Kazik said.

"Our records do not show there was any trouble, so you can imagine the shock this is for all of us," Kazik said.

A woman who answered the phone today at the Queen of Heaven declined to comment and hung up the phone. Officials at the school adjacent to the church referred all questions to the archdiocese.

A woman who answered the phone at a number given in court documents as Malloy's initially said Malloy couldn't come to the phone, then later said she couldn't confirm that he was there.

At Malloy's arraignment today in Metro Court, the state tried to raise the bail amount to $100,000, saying the priest has ties to law enforcement and thus has access to weapons and could threaten victims. Judge Theresa Gomez continued the bail already posted.

Ray Twohig, Malloy's attorney, said he is angry that so much information is sealed because that's making it hard for him to defend his client.

The case remains sealed until arraignment in District Court, which will come in roughly two weeks, or it can be opened by further court order.

Twohig, Gomez and Assistant District Attorney Georgia Garman met behind closed doors to share some information.

 
 

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