PUERTO RICO
Latin American Herald Tribune
SAN JUAN – A Catholic priest was arrested Tuesday by FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for crimes of sexual trafficking and pedophilia, Puerto Rican government spokesman Miguel Pereira told Efe.
The Rev. Israel Berrios Berrios, 58, was arrested at his residence in Naranjito, a village in the central part of this U.S. commonwealth.
Berrios, who in the photo of his Facebook profile appears taking the hand of the late Pope John Paul II, had been relieved of his duties by the diocese of Caguas, a city neighboring San Juan, while he was being investigated.
This was the first arrest of a priest by U.S. federal authorities in Puerto Rico, with local authorities expected to confirm the charge, which would make Berrios the second priest charged with sex crimes on the island.
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