Thread: Police see rise in (priest) molesting of immigrant kids

Police see rise in molesting of immigrant kids
CHURCH CLOSES AFTER PRIEST IS ARRESTED
By Leslie Griffy
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/28/2008 01:34:52 AM PDT



When the 16-year-old boy first laid out how he had allegedly been molested by the family's priest, the story came spilling out.

According to court documents, the boy told his father that Pastor Gustavo Antonio Lanzas showed him pornographic images on a laptop computer during their weekly meetings - one of many the priest had with young boys at Iglesia Cristiana Luz y Verdad, Spanish for the Christian Church of Light and Truth.

Lanzas began molesting the boy at age 13, and the priest kept a drawer filled with condoms in his office desk, the boy told his father.

The boy isn't the only suspected victim. San Jose police say they have identified six possible victims. And they want to talk to several other families.

Lanzas, 64, sits in Santa Clara County Jail, where he is being held without bail. He faces 12 felony counts of lewd acts with a minor and showing harmful material to a child, and more charges may be added, prosecutor Jim Demertzis said.

The church where people once gathered to pray - and where Lanzas headed youth groups - was being packed up last week. A mover said he was told to take everything from the low-slung building tucked in an industrial neighborhood to storage.

"It's just a really complex, confusing dynamic to people who aren't even victims but happened to go to the church," said Deputy District Attorney Michael Fletcher.

Officials from the Aiello Drive church could not be reached for comment on the move or the case.

Police say that their investigation may be hampered because some of Lanzas' suspected victims from the South San Jose church might be worried about their or their parents' immigration status. It's a new trend for molesters, activists say.

"He found the most vulnerable kids he could," said Joelle Casteix of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Predators hit populations of kids that are worried about their parents' immigration status or kids who are afraid of their parents. These are the kids who might be more willing to keep a secret."

Paul Noboa, Lanzas' attorney, did not return phone calls this week. Messages left at Lanzas' home for his family weren't returned. He is scheduled to enter a plea in May.

The allegations came pouring out from a 16-year-old after his father asked him why his behavior had changed, according to court documents.

After his son told of the alleged molestations, his father called a friend who also attended Iglesia Cristiana Luz y Verdad. That man talked to his teenage son who told a similar story, according to documents. Police believe they've located four other potential victims, Thomas said. And they still want to interview teens who had contact with Lanzas, the church's sole pastor for about 20 years.

Both boys said that Lanzas bought them gifts at the end of the visits - a BB gun for one, an iPod for the other.

It's common behavior for molesters, experts said.

"The kids begin to feel complicit" because they have accepted gifts, said Joey Piscitelli, the Northwest director of SNAP.

Piscitelli and Casteix said their group is beginning to see more and more cases involving young people who are immigrants or who are the children of immigrants.

"We are seeing a lot of that now because predators think that immigrant kids are better targets because they believe the kids already live with a code of silence," he said.

Thomas noted that it is always hard to get children to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse, because of embarrassment and fear. But the department doesn't want crime victims to let their immigration status get in the way of them reporting a crime.

"We don't care about their legal status," Thomas said. "The main thing, for us, is that they are a victim of a crime."




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Contact Leslie Griffy at lgriffy@mercurynews.com.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9081381

Well, Ive been waiting for this to come out. Not surprised at all and makes perfect sense since they are harboring the IA's in droves. What easy targets IA's children must make!

Now people can see why so many leaders in the Catholic church are supporting illegal immigration and amnesty. American Catholics no longer trust priests around their children and have been leaving the church.

The Catholic church in America needs a new supply of supporters and are looking for bodies from South of the Border that have not heard about the scandals.

Unfortunately, the institutionalized predatory sexual abuse of children continues inside the Catholic church and some priests are merely looking for a new supply of young boys.

I wish this article had come out before the Pope arrived pushing for Amnesty for illegal aliens.

Added to the homepage
http://www.alipac.us/article3140.html

Someone make sure copies of this are sent to Mahoney.

W

The FIRST clue for the parents would've been the gifts that the boys received from the priest! Priests do NOT give gifts EVER.

My uncle is a priest and anytime he spent overnight at our house, he HAD to have his own room. Priests are human and they should be treated as such, never put temptation in their path or they will partake!

We've also had and increase in hispanic priests.....brought in this country for these churches. What a wide open hay-day for them...... It's un-likely even the parents would report something for fear of being deported.

I knew this would happen. Immigrants are the new victims for a whole new set of priests to prey upon. I've noticed that alot more priests are from a Hispanic background than ever before. Some cultures dont consider sexual abuse as evil and sinful as most Americans do.
I am an ex-Catholic and am glad to be rid of the Catholic church.

Neverland church...gotta have a good selection ya know?

The Mighty Pope with his dirty little priests ! Do they Ever learn ?
Could be a title to a new book

Lust, Not Compassion, Drives Ungodly Priests to Illegal Aliens
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
By John W. Lillpop

Pope Benedict's recent pilgrimage to America focused on two major issues of the day. Namely, the untoward history of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the church's anti-law and order position when it comes to illegal aliens.

The two issues may, in fact, be intertwined more than generally realized.

Specifically, as police in San Jose, California are discovering, some alleged men of God may actually be motivated more by sexual lust than "Christian Compassion" when it comes to fighting for illegal aliens.
Take the case of Pastor Gustavo Antonio Lanzas, former pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Luz y Verdad, Spanish for the Christian Church of Light and Truth.

SJMN: http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_9081381? ... rynews.com

Lanzas, 64, is being held in a Santa Clara County Jail, without bail, after being accused of 12 felony counts of lewd acts with a minor. Additional charges may be added, according to prosecutor Jim Demertzis.

The undoing of Lanzas and disclosure of his alleged sexual crimes came when a 16-year-old boy charged that he been molested by the family's priest, Pastor Gustavo Antonio Lanzas, starting when the boy was just 13.

San Jose police say they have identified six possible victims of Lanzas' alleged sexual indiscretions, and want to talk to several other families.

Police point out that illegal aliens are particularly vulnerable to assault by priestly predators because illegals fear having their illegal status exposed. Unholy men apparently use that fear to keep young prey quiet.

It is bad enough when prominent leaders in any church eschew Biblical admonitions concerning "Do not steal," "Do not covet your neighbor's property," and "Do not bear false witness" in order to defend those here unlawfully.

It is far worse, and unforgivably evil, to promote violation of the law in order to have a readily available stock of young, fearful prey with which to satisfy one's perverted lust.

Illegal aliens are a curse on America. Preventing and reversing the invasion of America should in no way be mollified by heeding the words of religious leaders driven by sexual lust.

John W. Lillpop
San Jose, California

Illegal aliens are a curse on America. Preventing and reversing the invasion of America should in no way be mollified by heeding the words of religious leaders driven by sexual lust.

Amen!