DALLAS -- A former priest was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old former parishioner who said he was too drunk following a wedding party to defend himself. John A. Salazar, who was already a convicted sex offender, faces up to life in prison after jurors found him guilty after five hours of deliberation. His sentencing hearing was scheduled to begin Wednesday. Beau Villegas testified that Salazar, the former reverend at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia, assaulted him in the priest's hotel room in suburban Dallas after a wedding in 2003. Villegas, of Amarillo, said Salazar had offered to take care of him after he drank 10 beers and at least three mixed drinks. In the 1980s, Salazar was convicted twice in California for molesting boys and spent six years in prison. He was technically a priest when he assaulted Villegas but had been stripped of his duties.
Posted by Editor at July 5, 2005 11:13 AM