PHILIPPINES/OREGON
Inquirer (Philippines)
SAN FRANCISCO – The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon has placed a Filipino priest on administrative leave after he waited more than three weeks to tell police about a hidden camera found in a church bathroom, while falsely assuring parishioners that police was investigating the matter.
Father Ysrael Bien, 34, was placed on leave for his failure to follow church protocol and immediately report the camera. Bien, who was born in the Philippines, was ordained into the Portland archdiocese in 2010.
“It is deeply troubling that well-established Church protocols for the protections of parishioners were not followed,” Archbishop Alexander Sample said in a statement last week. “Finding a hidden camera in a church restroom should have been the cause for prompt and decisive action.”
Bien was not named as a suspect, though officials reportedly said in a search warrant affidavit they believe he may have “aided or abetted” whoever planted the camera, according to a report by the newspaper the Oregonian.
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