Bishop says hire was mistake
YAKIMA – The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima said Tuesday he regrets hiring a retreat director known to be under investigation on child pornography charges in Oregon, saying it “wasn’t a good hire.”
Juan Jose Gonzalez, 37, of Cowiche, is being held on $80,000 bail at the Yakima County Jail on a fugitive warrant issued in Marion County, Ore. He faces four charges of encouraging child sex abuse, a felony, according to Yakima County Superior Court records.
Bishop Carlos Sevilla said he hired Gonzalez in 2003 to work part-time at St. Peter Retreat Center in Cowiche because he viewed the incident as an “isolated episode,” and because the job involved administrative work and teaching religious education to adults only. Gonzalez was hired as full-time retreat director later that summer.
“It was a serious error in judgment on my part to employ Mr. Gonzalez while he was under investigation,” Sevilla said in a statement. “I have always been and continue to be deeply committed to keeping the church a safe place. I should not have hired the employee, regret my serious failure in good judgment in doing so, and take full responsibility for my actions.”
The charges mark the latest challenge for a diocese that already has paid about $1.25 million to resolve sexual abuse claims involving seven priests.
The allegations stem from when Gonzalez was a student at Mount Angel Seminary in Mount Angel, Ore. He was dismissed from the seminary in 2003, but Oregon authorities did not issue an arrest warrant until 2005.
Sevilla said he was not notified that Gonzalez had been charged, but he also said he did not follow up on the case after Gonzalez had been hired. Police and prosecutors in Oregon would not comment on the charges.
Gonzalez was arrested March 19 following a traffic stop in Tieton, west of Yakima. An extradition hearing has been set for April 22.
“My client shall prove his innocence to all criminal charges, and he shall provide specific facts in a court of law that establishes his truthfulness and his innocence,” said J.J. Sandlin, attorney for Gonzalez.
Sandlin said Sevilla was aware of his client’s history at the seminary, including Gonzalez’s allegations of sexual misconduct by priests providing theological instruction there. Sevilla also knew Gonzalez has had contact with Catholic youth at the Cowiche retreat for several years.
Sevilla said the diocese only recently learned that Gonzalez had been providing some religious instruction to youth. An outside investigator will be hired to determine if there are any allegations of inappropriate conduct.
Robert Fontana of Voice of the Faithful, a support group for church-abuse victims and priests and church members seeking changes in the diocese, said the latest case fits a pattern of secrecy surrounding the Yakima Diocese.
“His behavior has been consistent with keeping secrets until he gets caught,” Fontana said. “I love the church, I love this diocese, but what the bishop said has not been his pattern. His pattern is to keep it a secret.”