CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Bee
By Darrell Smith
dvsmith@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jun. 27, 2014
Calling his behavior “a crime and a sin,” local Catholic Church officials will ask the Vatican to defrock a disgraced Davis priest after he pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a teenage parishioner.
Davis priest Hector Coria Gonzalez will face jail and probation after pleading guilty to the charge Friday in Yolo Superior Court.
“Father Coria’s behavior with the minor was a crime and a sin,” Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, said in a statement Friday. “He will now be held to account for his behavior.”
Eckery said the diocese will forward Gonzalez’s case to Rome and “ask the Holy See to permanently dismiss him from the priesthood.”
Gonzalez, 46, will serve 90 days in jail for sexual acts with the 16-year-old girl in the rectory of St. James’ Parish in Davis, where he had been a priest since July 2012. Gonzalez will also be placed on formal probation for three years and barred by Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson from having contact with the girl until she turns 18.
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