An Oakland priest placed on administrative leave after accusations of inappropriate sexual misconduct with a minor has now reportedly fled the country, officials confirmed.
Father Alex Castillo was living at a rectory in Oakland and reportedly was looking to live with friends for a few days immediately after he was placed on leave Jan. 30, the San Jose Mercury reported. The diocese said they last spoke with him Feb. 20, then were unable to reach him the following day.
A missing persons report was later filed on Feb. 23, after calls to jails and hospitals in the area failed to locate Castillo.
Oakland police eventually found Castillo, telling the diocese Friday that he had left the country, a diocese spokeswoman told the newspaper, stating that Castillo’s exact location was not disclosed to them.
Full story at SF Gate.
See February 1 CalCatholic story, “Oakland priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor“
Was Castllo under a court order to remain within a certain area? If not, he would seem to be free to travel as he sees fit.
I do not see the relevance of the picture to this article..
Sad sad sad.
Yes, for any actual victims, but also sad for His Excellency Bishop Barber.
What the news reports on Alex Castillo don’t say is that he was a confessor and regular celebrant of Masses (especially the 11:30A Spanish-language Mass) at St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley, for several years, but the parish’s Sunday Bulletins indicate the parishioners there are not told of Castillo being accused of pedophilia.
Fr Alex is a friend of mine, I would stay with him when I had to be in Oakland. The Bishop, Michael Barber, SJ put out a communication to us in the Oakland presbyterate, apparently the initial police investigation found nothing. It does appear that something is amiss given that he has left the country, according to this report, but on the other hand, given that priests are guilty until proven innocent — and that is nearly impossible these days — I wonder if he despaired of justice. In any event it does no good for us to judge him before the facts are in, but we should be praying. I pray for him.
Father Brown, do you know if Father Castillo is a US Citizen? Immigration autorities have been pretty harsh on immigrants accused of crimes, even before their trials, even if they are here legally and in possession of a green card.
Thank you for bringing clarity and balance to the issue Fr Jerry. Hope all is well!
Leland
A good, decent priest would never flee the country if accused of a crime— even if he was innocent! Very irresponsible, dangerous and untrustworthy!
Easy for you to say isn’t it. You’ve never been accused of something like this I suppose, or anything close to this. So do not presume to judge from your comfortable armchair the behavior of anyone unless you’ve been there yourself.
jon– a priest owes God and the Church respect, responsibility, dedication– and unselfish service! Yes, a priest should be held to a higher standard. He is supposed to lead a holy life. He is a HUGE spiritual leader for his parish– and recognized by the whole community. Good men of every profession, and of all walks of life–do not flee the country, when something bad happens, and they get blamed, mistakenly.
Anonymous, your answer above only proves right the sad, very sad, reality that so many people these days presume that priests accused of this crime are guilty until proven innocent. This is in direct contradiction to the principle of our judicial system that those who are accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
jon– I am not accusing this man of a crime– I am questioning his sense of responsibility!
What this priest did is not necessarily irresponsible. As far as we’re concerned there is no travel prohibition put on him. There are many reasons why he may have left. He may have left because, as Fr. Jerry Brown says above, he “despaired of justice.” Or he may have left for support. Who knows? You don’t know. Yet you’re accusing him of lacking responsibility, and all sorts of other things.
Now at these days some people do many bad things for money they don’t care if that kind of actions hurt the reputation of anybody’s as long as they get profits I know father Alexander and for me he is a good person