California priest pleads no contest in child pornography case

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2024 / 13:55 pm

A priest in California has pleaded no contest to charges of possessing hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material, with his conviction coming just over a year after his arrest. 

The Ventura County district attorney’s office said in a press release on Thursday that Father Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara “pled no contest to one felony count of possession of child sexual abuse material.” He had been associated with several churches, including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard, California. 

As part of that plea, the 39-year-old priest also admitted that he possessed “over 600 images of child sexual abuse material, including images and videos of prepubescent minors under the age of 12.”

Martinez-Guevara was arrested in September 2023. In announcing the priest’s plea this week, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Martinez-Guevara “betrayed the law and the trust placed in him as a religious leader.”

“Child sexual abuse material preys on the most vulnerable members of our society, and we will continue to ensure that anyone who engages in such heinous crimes is held accountable, no matter their position or title,” the prosecutor said.

The priest is a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. The religious congregation said in a statement following Martinez-Guevara’s plea that his crimes “[do] not reflect the values of our congregation, and we are deeply saddened by his actions.”

“Our hearts go out to all the victims who were hurt and whose lives were harmed in this horrendous way,” the institute said.

Martinez-Guevara’s “canonical process of loss of clerical state will move forward” following the guilty plea, the group said. 

Investigations into Martinez-Guevara were initiated in April 2023 after reports were made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A task force of multiple law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation. 

The priest is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9 in Ventura County. 

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles told media last year that Martinez-Guevara was “not a priest of [the archdiocese]” but had possessed “faculties to minister” there. After his arrest he was “removed from ministry by the archdiocese and his order,” the statement said.

“The archdiocese stands against any sexual misconduct and is resolute in our support for victim-survivors of any misconduct,” the statement added.

The Missionaries of the Holy Spirit currently have members in several dozen communities in multiple countries, though the majority are in Mexico. Priests with the group are also located in Italy, Colombia, and Spain.