A priest in California has pleaded no contest to charges of possessing hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material, with his conviction coming just over a year after his arrest.
The Ventura County district attorney’s office said in a press release on Thursday that Father Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara “pled no contest to one felony count of possession of child sexual abuse material.” He had been associated with several churches, including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard, California.
As part of that plea, the 39-year-old priest also admitted that he possessed “over 600 images of child sexual abuse material, including images and videos of prepubescent minors under the age of 12.”
Father Martinez-Guevara was arrested in September 2023. In announcing the priest’s plea this week, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Father Martinez-Guevara “betrayed the law and the trust placed in him as a religious leader.”
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