POSTED: Monday, April 19, 2010 - 4:07pm
UPDATED: Thursday, April 22, 2010 - 2:21am
Tyler---A man doing a pastoral internship at the Diocese of Tyler was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with two counts of Indecency with a Child, a second degree felony.
Jorge Ivan Sanchez Otalvo, 30, was arrested at the Smith County Jail where he turned himself in with his lawyer.
Sanchez is originally from Pereira, Colombia. He studied philosophy for four years in the South American country.
He had been attending the Catholic Seminary for the past three years through the Catholic Dioceses, two years in Houston, TX and the third year at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Tyler.
“The Diocese of Tyler has cooperated with the police in every step of their investigation,” said Bishop Alvaro Corrada, the Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler . “Mr. Sanchez has been suspended as a seminarian. I request of anyone in the community with further concerns regarding Mr. Sanchez to please contact the Tyler Police Department.”
Information was brought to the attention of the Tyler Police Department that Sanchez had engaged in sexual contact with a 15 year old female, on two separate occasions in December of 2009 and in January of 2010.
On a biography post on the Diocese of Tyler’s website Sanchez writes, “God called me at a very young age. I still remember when I heard a missionary’s testimony and the pastoral work that was performed in my home town. This made me fall in love with the priestly life. God called me, I only answered his call. We’ll never know why He called us, but we are sure He is always with us.
Honorable Judge Jack Skeen set Sanchez’s bond at $75,000.00 on each charge.