S.A. priest denies sex-abuse allegations

TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

By Guillermo Contreras
May 29, 2015

A noted Hispanic Catholic theologian and well-respected San Antonio priest denied Friday that he sexually abused a boy in the 1980s, calling the allegations baseless.

“I look forward to the legal process so that I may have the opportunity to refute these assertions,” Father Virgilio Elizondo said of claims that he took advantage of an orphan who came to him for help after another priest allegedly molested the boy for several years.

Elizondo denied the allegations made by an individual identified only as John Doe, who in the 1980s lived in a San Antonio orphanage. The man allegedly was molested by Jesus Armando Dominguez, who was studying for the priesthood. Dominguez was later ordained in California and defrocked amid more sexual abuse allegations, the San Antonio Express-News confirmed.

“I would like to thank the San Antonio community, my family and friends for the support I have received,” Elizondo said in a statement Friday. “The allegations made against me are not true and have absolutely no basis in fact. I deny all the claims which have been asserted against me.”

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