Priest accused of ‘touching’ female student

By Justin K. Vestil

THE Archdiocese of Cebu is investigating allegations a diocesan priest abused female students of a Catholic school.

Msgr. Esteban Binghay, episcopal vicar, said he was able to talk to the priest over the phone for just 15 minutes last Tuesday afternoon.

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He said the priest confided there was a commotion after he was accused of inappropriately touching a female student during a recollection conducted last July 20 and 21.

The student was part of the campus ministry group of a Catholic school.

"It was a very brief conversation and I did not understand most of what he was saying because he was talking too fast," he said.

"There was a confusion or commotion because the parents of the girls were complaining," he added.

In a separate interview, Archdiocesan media liaison officer Msgr. Achilles Dakay said he was not privy to the details of the incident.

"I really do not know anything about the case nor do I know details about the ongoing investigation," he said.

But Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has been informed about the case and has ordered an investigation, Binghay said.

The priest allegedly touched the strap of the student’s bra while hearing confession.

The parents of the children have expressed their intention to file a case against the priest.

Sun.Star Cebu tried but failed to get the side of the priest.

The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed in 2007 the complaints against another priest, who was accused of lascivious acts while hearing confessions of public high school students in Cebu City.

While his conduct may have been “inappropriate,” it was not “lascivious,” the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office said in the resolution dismissing the complaint. (BAP)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on July 29, 2010.