Pedophile Preacher Arrested on Sex-Abuse Charges

Police in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz arrested a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing boys at a church-run residential facility.

The Rev. Jose de Jesus Sandoval Gonzalez was detained in Veracruz city, the state Attorney General's Office said.

Authorities said police were still looking for a nun accused of acting as Sandoval's accomplice.

The priest's arrest came hours after the mayor of the town where the alleged crimes took place held a press conference to complain that prosecutors had failed to act on the criminal complaint the Boca del Rio municipal government filed in mid-December.

Late Monday, state Judge Beatriz Rivera acceded to a request from prosecutors to issue warrants for the arrest of Sandoval and Sister Maria Guadalupe Zaragoza Barajas.

Mayor Miguel Angel Yunes Marquez told reporters earlier Monday that the municipal government had received complaints from boys who said they were mistreated and subjected to sexual abuse by the priest with the connivance of Sister Maria Guadalupe.

According to Yunes, the mothers of two alleged victims said the nun accepted payments of 500 pesos ($36.20) to take boys to the house of the priest, where he then abused them.

Any boys who dared to mention what happened at the house were punished by making them eat hot peppers or spoiled food, or they were forced to kneel in the yard for four hours in the sun or on top of metal bottle caps and sleep with dogs all night or out in the open air.

During his meeting with reporters, the mayor presented videotapes of the testimony of several boys who were rescued from the church-run institution and who are now being taken care of by the municipal family services agency.

Yunes said that the city hall presented the criminal complaint on Dec. 15 but decided to go public with the matter because prosecutors have dragged their feet.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Veracruz said on television Tuesday that "if there was a crime," the law should be applied against whoever turns out to be responsible.

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