Nipomo priest gets probation in sex case

St. Joseph’s pastor, who pleaded no contest to committing sex crimes, will stay on leave from his parish

Stephen Curran

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A Nipomo priest will remain on leave from his parish after being sentenced to three years of probation Monday following a no-contest plea to committing sex crimes near Pirates Cove.

The Rev. Geronimo Enrique Cuevas appeared before Judge Dodie Harman in San Luis Obispo Superior Court. He entered his new plea to charges of engaging in lewd conduct and soliciting another to engage in lewd conduct, both misdemeanors.

A no-contest plea results in a conviction without an admission of guilt.

Cuevas, 52, also must pay a $750 fine and complete 40 hours of community service and an AIDS education class, Deputy District Attorney Craig VanRooyen said. He has been ordered to stay away from Pirates Cove.

Cuevas was one of three men arrested July 18 at the Pirates Cove parking lot on sex crime charges after he reportedly groped an undercover male deputy.

Cuevas pleaded not guilty in August to misdemeanor sexual battery and the two lewd act charges.

A priest at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Nipomo, Cuevas will remain on administrative leave until a separate church investigation is complete, a representative for the Diocese of Monterey said in a brief statement Monday afternoon.

“The Diocese of Monterey has faith in the justice system and in the decision reached as a result of the district attorney’s plea agreement,” the statement read. Undercover deputies conducted a sting near Pirates Cove in July after receiving reports from nearby residents of lewd acts occurring there.

The department has said the area has a history of sexual solicitation problems.

Also arrested at Pirates Cove that day were a 45- year-old Oceano man on suspicion of indecent exposure in a public place and a 25- year-old Grover Beach man on suspicion of sexual battery.

Gerald Carrasco, Cuevas’ attorney, did not respond to phone messages Monday.

Bishop Richard Garcia, who oversees the Diocese of Monterey, said in July that he thought, but wasn’t certain, that Cuevas had been at the Nipomo parish for about four years.

Before that, public records showed, Cuevas lived in Las Vegas, Salinas, Santa Cruz and Henderson, Nev.