Thread: Catholic Seminary Student Reaches Plea Bargain Deal

Catholic Seminary Student Reaches Plea Bargain Deal
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer

A Catholic seminary student who was charged with two counts of indecency with a child in April reached a plea agreement with the District Attorney's office on Monday.

Jorge Ivan Sanchez, 31, pleaded guilty to both second-degree felony charges in the Smith County 7th District Court, and his attorneys, Brett Harrison and F.R. "Buck" Files have asked the court for Sanchez to receive five years deferred adjudication.

Sanchez, a native of Colombia, also faces deportation to his native country if his plea is accepted.

Sanchez, who will be sentenced Oct. 15, faces a possible sentence of two to 20 years, according to information presented in court. He remains confined in the Smith County Jail on $150,000 bond.

The defendant, who was studying as a seminarian at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, reportedly had engaged in a six-month long romantic relationship with a 16-year-old girl before he was arrested.

The girl attended the church as a youth member.

According to the arrest affidavit, during the course of the relationship, Sanchez and the teenager exchanged "numerous" text messages and several e-mails that the police referred to as "inappropriate."

Sanchez also visited the girl numerous times at her high school, according to the affidavit, but disputed claims of sexual contact, denying "that he had ever touched the girl inappropriately."

However, police reported that Sanchez "corroborated the information" the girl provided, which included alleged incidences of kissing and sitting next to one another during youth group events on multiple occasions.

Sanchez began his seminary education within the Catholic Diocese of Tyler almost three years ago, studying for two years in Houston at the University of St. Thomas seminary.

Diocese officials said Sanchez started an internship at the Cath-edral of the Immaculate Concep-tion in August, 2009, participating in church services and meetings with a "large percentage" of the church community.

Sanchez, who was scheduled to complete the Tyler internship in May before returning for additional years of graduate study, still was two years away from being eligible for ordination as a priest.

Staff Writer Chad Thomas contributed to this report

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20100 ... 08/9280324

Catholic seminary student who was charged with two counts of indecency with a child in April reached a plea agreement with the District Attorney's office on Monday.

Jorge Ivan Sanchez, 31,

Student and under 35. He could have qualified for the DREAM Act.