JACKSON (MS)
Mississippi Clarion Ledger
November 12, 2018
By Jimmie E. Gates and Sarah Fowler
The Office of Homeland Security raided the Catholic Diocese of Jackson office investigating accusations a Starkville priest obtained money by lying about having cancer when in fact he was HIV positive and was sent to a Canadian sexual addiction facility for priests.
An affidavit by Homeland Security Special Agent William Childers was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Jackson. The search of the Jackson Diocese apparently took place Nov. 7.
The affidavit says Homeland Security Investigations have developed probable cause to believe the Rev. Lenin Vargas-Gutierrez, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Starkville, knowingly devised schemes of obtaining money by means of false and fraudulent pretense, through the use of wire communications.
The affidavit refers to Lenin Vargas-Gutierrez as Father Vargas after the initial introduction. A native of Mexico, he was ordained a priest in the Jackson diocese in 2006.
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