Catholic Priest

Juan Bazalar

Ordained: Unknown

Father Bazalar faced criminal sex abuse charges in the 1990s.  Bazalar was accused in 1991 of molesting a former altar boy at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Monticello.  He reportedly fled to Canada and was extradited back to the United States in 1993, where he was tried and sentenced to 5-15 years in prison.  The conviction was overturned in 1995 and Bazalar was found not guilty after another priest, a key witness for the prosecution, died.  Bazalar allegedly returned to Peru.