LONG BEACH (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
July 26, 2012
A Roman Catholic priest who worked at a Long Beach church pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he sexually groped a 14-year-old girl and two women in incidents that started two years ago.
Father Luis Jose Cuevas, 67, a pastor of St. Athanasius Church on Linden Avenue, faces eight misdemeanor charges of sexual assault and one felony count involving lewd acts with a child, according to a complaint filed by the L.A. County district attorney’s office. Superior Court Judge James Otto set his bail at $260,000.
The two adult women, both 20, initially reported the alleged incidents to the archdiocese and then filed a police report, said Sgt. Aaron Eaton, a spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department. Later, the teenager alleged repeated incidents during which Cuevas inappropriately touched “an intimate part” of her body for his own sexual arousal, the complaint contends. Cuevas was arrested Monday in San Jacinto.
All of the incidents allegedly occurred at the church, where Cuevas served and lived for seven years until his recent removal from duties. The felony and six of the lesser charges involve the teenager, who was 14 during the first alleged incident in July 2010, according to the complaint. The two women said he fondled them in February 2012.
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