Priest in court on child sex charges in Kane County

A Shorewood priest made his first court appearance Thursday in Kane County to face charges he molested a St. Charles boy over a period of five years, beginning when the child was 8 years old.

The Rev. Alejandro Flores, 37, is charged with seven felony offenses accusing him of having sexual contact with the boy, prosecutors said. He faces up to 67 years in prison if convicted of all counts.

Flores was arrested Wednesday after being released from a Joliet-area hospital where he had been recovering from a Jan. 6 suicide attempt after learning he was under investigation.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit with his hands shackled to his waist, the Bolivian-born priest showed no visible signs of injury from his jump from a 20-foot church balcony.

He spoke only to answer "yes" when the judge asked if he understood the charges and to say he needed "a little" help from a Spanish-language interpreter, who assisted him throughout the proceeding.

Assistant State's Attorney Deb Bree said Flores had sexual contact with the victim at the boy's home and in the priest's vehicle on multiple occasions from January 2005 to January 2010. She said the victim told his mother he was being abused, and the boy's father also believed he had twice witnessed them having sexual contact.

According to Bree, Flores also told a fellow priest while he was recovering in the hospital that he went to the boy's house about three months ago and was given tequila by the victim's mother. He claimed he woke up to find himself engaged in sexual contact with his accuser, now 13.

Flores' attorney, Glenn Sowa, declined to comment in detail on the case but said his client intends to plead not guilty.

He said "concerned" parishioners who do not work for the Diocese of Joliet, where Flores was employed, are paying for his defense. "There's not much I can say right now,"he said. "It's very preliminary."

Authorities say Flores, who was a parochial vicar at Holy Family Parish in Shorewood, developed a relationship with the boy's family while he was a seminarian assigned to St. Mary's Parish in West Chicago. He has since been removed from his post at Holy Family.

Sowa said Flores "physically is in good health." He has surrendered his passport and been ordered to avoid contact with the victim, his family and any children should he post 10 percent of a $1 million bond to be released from the county jail until trial. Judge James C. Hallock set his next court appearance for Feb. 10.