ILLINOIS
Aurora Beacon-News
Dan Campana
Aurora Beacon-News
A judge has set a late-July trial date in the child sex abuse case of former Aurora priest Alfredo Pedraza Arias, court records show.
Arias, 50, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment alleging aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He is accused of fondling two children under the age of 13 at Sacred Heart Church, as well as one at one of the youth’s homes, between 2012 and 2014. He is free on $50,000 bail and prohibited from having contact with anyone under the age of 18. Kane County prosecutors charged Arias in February 2016.
The Rockford Diocese, which includes Kane County, previously explained that Arias had been out of the ministry since October of 2014,when police and the diocese began investigating allegations against him. Arias also worked in Aurora at Our Lady of Good Counsel and DeKalb’s Hispanic Ministry, according to the diocese.
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