A Marin Catholic High School theology teacher is under investigation by the Oakland Police Department for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to an underaged church altar server.
According to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which oversees the high school, Jonathan Chavez has resigned from his teaching position after the allegations surfaced. The claims comes just weeks before Chavez was scheduled to chaperone up to 20 high school students on a religious youth trip to Lisbon, Portugal.
“That’s really frightening. It’s classic behavior by predators. They seek opportunities to be alone and influence these kids,” said Dan McNevin with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Chavez is not a priest but McNevin says lay church employees and volunteers have also put children at risk in the past.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco told NBC Bay Area plans for the religious youth trip have changed, and Chavez is no longer with the high school.
The alleged inappropriate behavior happened while Chavez, an adult, was volunteering as an alter server at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Oakland, Oakland Diocese officials said. Chavez reportedly sent the texts to another Oakland altar server, who’s underaged, and the child’s parents alerted police and a priest at the parish on April 19.
The Diocese of Oakland said the priest made a mandatory report to California’s Child Protest Services. Approximately one or two days later, Chavez was informed he was not permitted to serve as a volunteer at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church or any other parish in the Diocese of Oakland. Oakland church officials said, on April 21, parents of altar servers at that parish were informed and all other parishioners were notified the weekend of May 13-14.
The Diocese of Oakland said it notified Chavez’s employer, Marin Catholic High School, on April 19. But it wouldn’t be for another month and a half after learning about the allegations and getting questions from the Investigative Unit that the Archdiocese would publicly alert Marin Catholic High School parents and teachers.
“One of the great flaws in this process is that there’s no list anywhere that identifies the law employees who have offender or who are suspected of offending,” said McNevin.
In a June 6 letter addressed to “MC [Marin Catholic] Community,” Executive Director of Communications and Media Relations Peter Marlow wrote, “The Archdiocese of San Francisco is now able to share more information regarding former MC teacher Jonathan Chavez.” The letter acknowledges the allegations and says Chavez was put on administrative leave the same day the Archdiocese was notified, back in April. The Archdiocese said Marin Catholic started its own investigation which has been completed “…without any local findings. To date Mr. Chavez has admitted no fault in the matter.”
The Investigative Unit contacted Chavez directly. He didn’t want to speak with us and through his attorney reiterated he had no comment.
While Marlow instructed anyone with questions about the case to contact the Archdiocese, McNevin argues anyone with information about Chavez or another potential victim should first contact law enforcement.
Source: NBC Bay Area