Immigrant advocate arrested on sex abuse allegations

By Lindsay Whitehurst

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 12/02/2009 11:07:59 PM MST

A prominent immigrant advocate in Cache County faces charges of sexually abusing a woman who came to him for legal help, police said.

The arrest of 61-year-old Leo Bravo, award-winning director of the Multicultural Center of Cache County, is likely to have a ripple effect through the area's Latino community, which is still recovering from the effects of an illegal immigration raid at a meat packing plant nearly three years ago.

Bravo was charged Tuesday with two counts of forcible sex abuse, second-degree felonies. The woman, who is in her mid-30s, "felt vulnerable" when she asked for help finding an attorney in a civil matter on Nov. 16, said Logan police Capt. Jeff Curtis. At some point, Bravo locked the door to his office and touched her underneath her clothes against her will twice, once earlier and once later in the day, said Deputy Cache County Attorney Spencer Walsh. She had been to the center before for services, he said.

When interviewed by police, Bravo "corroborated some of the story, some of the accusations," Curtis said.

Bravo is the one-man operator of the center, which helps immigrants, mainly Latino, get housing, understand U.S. laws and deal with family issues. He founded the center in 1994, and in 2005, it assisted more than 1,300 people through various programs, according to its Web site.

The arrest is "going to have a major impact with the multicultural center," Curtis said. It comes during the center's busiest time, as it helps needy families through the holidays.

After the December 2006 raid at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant in Hyrum, Bravo was instrumental in helping the community recover, said Dean Quayle, a Logan city councilman and former chairman of the multicultural center's board. More than 150 people were arrested and all but seven deported, dividing families and sowing fear.

"Leo really was the one who helped those who didn't have any other resource to go to," Quayle said.

The Venezuela native was one of six Utahns who won the César Chávez Peace and Justice Award in 1997; in 2006, Bravo was made an honorary member of the Logan police.

"He's created a lot of very good bridges between the police and people who normally wouldn't have come to the police for assistance," Curtis said.

Bravo is also a member of the Logan Planning and Zoning Commission.

"He's done a lot of help for a lot of people, a lot of good things, but this overshadows that, unfortunately," Curtis said.

For now, the future of the center is unclear. Phone messages left at the office Wednesday were not immediately returned.

"I just don't know at this time. I just can't even imagine," Quayle said. "There's not a person waiting in the wings that I'm aware of."

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13908341