JULY 22, 2007

San Luis Obispo, California – A priest with the Catholic Diocese of Monterey has been stripped of his duties following his arrest this week for allegedly groping an undercover sheriff's deputy near a nude beach, authorities said Saturday.

The Rev. Geronimo Enrique Cuevas, 52, was arrested in Avila Beach on Wednesday and was booked on suspicion of sexual battery and soliciting a lewd act from the male deputy in a public place, said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hascall.

Cuevas led St. Mary of the Nativity Church in East Salinas before becoming an assistant pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Nipomo sometime after September 2005, said Kevin Drabinski, Diocese director of communications.

On Wednesday, Cuevas allegedly 'grabbed the crotch area' of the deputy working undercover on foot trails leading to Pirate's Cove, a secluded beach known for nude sunbathing several miles south of San Luis Obispo, Hascall said.

A total of three men were arrested in the sting operation on suspicion of soliciting sex acts and exposing themselves to sheriff's deputies at the beach. None of the men were sitting near each other or claimed to know each other before their arrests. They were booked into County Jail, which is when the priest’s identity was discovered.

The Sheriff's Department said it had received some complaints that people were committing lewd acts on the bluff above Pirates Cove. Nobody on the beach was arrested, and, in fact, many of the beach-goers applauded the police effort to rid the bluffs of gawkers, who often are seen peering down on the people enjoying the nude beach there.

When deputies arrested the pastor, he said he was from Las Vegas and was unemployed, Sheriff's Department authorities said. He was released on $2,000 bail and has been placed on administrative leave.

Bishop Richard Garcia met with Cuevas on Friday to have a conversation about “removing his faculties,” a term that refers to the permission the bishop grants priests to perform church functions, Drabinski said.

A Diocese statement said his faculties were removed “pending outcome of the criminal investigation.”'

During each Mass at St. Joseph's this weekend, a Diocese representative will read a letter from Bishop Garcia to the parishioners that acknowledges the arrest and the church's decision to put Cuevas on administrative leave, Drabinski said.

“The Diocese will fully cooperate in the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office investigation,” it says.

During his time as a pastor in Salinas, Cuevas appears to have been involved in anti-gang efforts, according to media reports and Salinas City Council minutes.

It is unclear why Cuevas said he was from Las Vegas, though he does own an apartment in the Las Vegas area, Drabinski said.

Sheriff's authorities said if Cuevas had been carrying identification with him at Pirate's Cove, a site where deputies regularly conduct undercover operations, he would have been cited and released.

Original story on KSBY-TV in San Luis Obispo and printed in the Monterey Herald.