Mexican Priest Sentenced for Fondling Girl during Confession

Associated Press
February 10, 2004

Los Angeles - A visiting priest from Mexico was sentenced to a year in jail Tuesday for sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl whose confession he was hearing.

Avdon Serratos, 31, also was ordered to register as a sex offender and given five years' probation.

Serratos normally ministers at a Catholic church in Colima, Mexico and comes to the Los Angeles area in summer to minister to Mexicans living here, authorities said.

He was arrested last August when the victim reported to police that Serratos had kissed and fondled her during a confessional in the bedroom of a family friend's home in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors said the girl told her mother about the abuse as soon as she got home.

Serratos was given 277 days credit for time served, leaving him 88 days to serve.