Father Juan Manuel Mota De Jesus (Johnny), accused of raping 11 minors, is denying all charges. He said that no accusation has been made against him in the judiciary, and that it has been the media that has carried the accusations.
In a press release the priest says he has not disappeared and is willing to answer the accusations made against him. The parish priest of the Iglesia Catedra de San Pedro in Cosntanza says: “I am not in hiding or on the run. I saw the accusations and claims, I went to the capital city, the Attorney General, to see judge Marisol Tovar, coordinator for children, teenagers and family of the judiciary, and was told she is on medical leave. He said he also visited La Vega prosecutor Johanna Reyes.
Meanwhile, online publication Cibao al Dia reports that the judiciary in Constanza has been presented with the case, while pointing out that a brother of the Constanza prosecutor Fernando Quezada, Dr. Lucas Quezada, who is director of the Constanza public hospital, is also a minister at the same church as Padre Johnny. The prosecutor is in charge of investigating the case.
Cibao al Dia Reports that the priest lives in a RD$6 million “luxury mansion” supposedly built with funds he receives for donations for church programs. The report says that his church, the Catedra de San Pedro suffers from water filtration and construction problems. The investigative journalists say that the priest is authorized to carry two firearms, one because he is a member of a military organization, and another for his personal use.
The report says that the priest has what they describe as a phantom foundation in Puerto Rico, reportedly for use of the funds in a nonexistent daycare center in Constanza. The reporters said that the priest constantly travels to Puerto Rico.
The journalists have delivered the results of their investigation to the judiciary, and said that the priest announced that he would resign on Wednesday 28 August.
A report in another online publication, lacebolla.net says that after the release of the facts presented on Wednesday 28 August by journalists Josue Martinez and Nereyda Feliz, and Raquel Rivera of the Cibao Women’s Coordinating Committee, the affected families and church members in Constanza have been asked not to speak on the topic, and especially not to journalists. The “line” that has been dropped is to “protect the church” from public scandal.
www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2013/8/31/290425/Sacerdote-dice-esta-tranquilo
www.cibaoaldia.com/denuncian-sacerdote-abusa-de-menores-en-constanza/
www.lacebolla.net/2013/08/cura-habria-seducido-menor-enferma-que.html
www.hoy.com.do/provincias/2013/8/30/496368/Curaaclara-no-esta-huyendo-se-ponea-disposicion-justicia