September 15, 2017

Judge Rejects Latest Bond Move on Former Aurora Priest

The third attempt by Kane County prosecutors to revoke the bond of former Aurora priest Alfredo Pedraza-Arias fell short Thursday.

Kane County Judge Linda Abrahamson agreed with Arias’ attorney David Camic’s request to strike the motion by prosecutors which sought to either raise the amount Arias would need to get out of jail or remove any possibility he could be released from custody while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.

The state’s attorney office has pursued the bond issue in recent months out of concern that Arias, who has been ordered to be deported, will be removed from the country before being tried. His trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 27.

Arias, 51, is currently held in Kane County Jail on allegations he fondled two girls under the age of six at Aurora’s Sacred Heart Church between 2012 and 2014. He had been free on bond until Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials took him into custody in May as he left a hearing at the Kane County Judicial Center.

Immigration officials reported Arias’ temporary religious worker non-immigrant visa was revoked in September 2016 as a result of his indictment.

A federal judge issued a deportation order in June, which prompted Kane prosecutors to act by filing the first of its three bond motions. Abrahamson concurred with the first two requests in July. Someone posted Arias’ bond within days of the first hike, which eventually landed Arias back in the custody of immigration officials.

Arias has remained in the jail since July 28 after Abrhamson’s second bond increase, records show.

Arias is scheduled to return to court for a status hearing Oct. 6.

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