CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland.com [Cleveland, OH]
February 14, 2024
By Cory Shaffer
A disgraced former Catholic priest who has repeatedly been accused of child sexual abuse pleaded guilty Tuesday to molesting a 15-year-old girl suffering from cancer.
Luis Barajas, 76, entered the plea to one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony. Prosecutors dropped five additional counts of the same charge in exchange for his plea.
Barajas must register as a sex offender once a year for the next 15 years.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew Santoli is set to sentence Barajas on Feb. 27.
Barajas was arrested Oct. 23 after a Catholic priest called Westlake police and said that a retired priest was performing private, Spanish-language spiritual ceremonies for Hispanic families.
Barajas, who has been staying with families in Lorain County, went to a home in Westlake on Oct. 10 to bless a 15-year-old girl who is undergoing chemotherapy, police said.
Police said witnesses at the ceremony reported that Barajas covered the child with blankets and clothing and began touching her. Barajas made the people in attendance uncomfortable, police said.
Barajas, originally from Colombia, was ordained a Catholic priest in 1982 and assigned to the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
A special grand jury investigated allegations of sexual abuse within the Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses. It found that diocesan elders gave Barajas “special warnings” in 1989 after receiving complaints about his relationships with youths. Barajas continued those relationships, and two separate parishioners accused Barajas of past sexual abuse that same year.
The Rev. Bernardo Pistone wrote in a letter to diocesan officials that he questioned the credibility of Barajas’ accusers, but he agreed that Barajas should be removed because of his “immaturity.” The diocese gave Barajas $2,000 to cover his flight back to Colombia, according to the grand jury report.
The Archdiocese of New York also received a report of past sexual abuse against Barajas in 1995.
Barajas was arrested in Virginia in 2019 on a felony charge of misconduct with a minor. It stemmed from an incident in 2013. He had been “acting in the capacity of trusted family friend and as church clergy,” police said.
The charge was later dropped.