BishopAccountability.org
	Another Corpus Christi Priest Faces Accusation of Sexual Abuse By Evan Moore Houston Chronicle August 31, 1995 A second priest from the Corpus Christi Diocese was accused Wednesday of sexually molesting a minor. The Rev. Robert Trevino is accused in a civil suit of molesting a boy in Alice in 1993. The lawsuit follows an indictment in June against another priest, the Rev. Jesus Garcia of Mathis, who is accused of drugging and molesting four youths and a man. Garcia fled the country after complaints were made against him in September 1994, and is thought to be in Spain. In the most recent suit, filed in 148th District Court in Corpus Christi, Roberto and Antonia Arredondo and their son, Roberto Arredondo Jr., 16, complained that Trevino molested the younger Arredondo during an overnight stay at a church rectory in Alice in September 1993. The Arredondo family spoke with the knowledge that their names would be published. Trevino, who left the Alice Parish after the Arredondos complained to police in March 1994, is currently a chaplain with the Air Force at Holloman AFB near Alamogordo, N.M The younger Arredondo said he was being counseled by Trevino because of poor performance in school when the priest asked him to spend the night at the rectory after a high school football game. The boy's parents said they agreed when Trevino told them another priest would also be staying at the rectory. Roberto Arredondo Jr., however, said the other priest was not at the rectory. He said that during dinner Trevino questioned him about sex, then attempted to enter the shower with him later. The youth said he became frightened and asked the priest to allow him to bathe alone and Trevino agreed. He then fell asleep on the couch, he said, and awoke in the early morning hours with Trevino performing a sex act on him. ""The next morning Father Trevino acted like nothing had happened," said the youth. ""I went home later that day, but I couldn't talk about it. " But the youth told his father in March 1994, and the father called police. Alice Police Chief Jack Compton said his department investigated the complaint, questioned the priest and offered to arrange a polygraph examination for him, but Trevino declined the test, saying diocesan officials would not allow him to take a polygraph. Compton said he then called Monsignor Thomas McGettrick, who denied Trevino's claim and said that the diocese had instructed the priest to cooperate with investigators. The teen-ager has volunteered to take a polygraph examination and his parents have agreed, though the test has not been administered. Throughout the investigation, the elder Arredondo said he attempted to speak with Bishop Rene Gracida, but Gracida refused to see him or speak to him. The case then languished in the office of Jim Wells District Attorney Frank Garza. Garza, in a telephone conversation with Arredondo in late May, reportedly told Arredondo that the case remained active and open and that he planned to pursue it. When asked about it by a Chronicle reporter the next day, however, Garza's response was ""Who's Robert Trevino? " But Garza told the Chronicle that he intended to bring the case before a grand jury in June. That action was not taken, however. Trevino refused comment except to say that he had joined the Air Force of his own volition. Gracida reportedly was away from the diocese. McGettrick, however, said he believes there are no grounds for a suit. ""As I remember it, the (Arredondo) family couldn't find a lawyer who would take it because it was groundless," he said. ""I'd certainly be surprised to see it filed now. "
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.