Lower Bail Rejected for Priest Accused of Sexual Assault on Boy

A Kane County judge Thursday rejected lower bail for a Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old St. Charles boy.

Judge T. Jordan Gallagher shot down the motion sought by the Rev. Alejandro Flores, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail following his January arrest on seven felony counts. Flores, 37, is accused of assaulting the boy in 2005. At the time, Flores was a seminarian assigned to a West Chicago parish.

Flores' attorney, Glenn Sowa, sought a $20,000 cash bond that would have allowed Flores to be released and to travel to a Maryland psychiatric facility that treats priests, nuns and other religious workers.

Flores had been assigned to a church in Shorewood. After accusations against him surfaced, Flores in January fell from a Joliet church choir loft in what police and church officials characterized as a suicide attempt. The Diocese of Joliet has offered to pay for his treatment and for his travel to Maryland and back to Kane County for court appearances.

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Australian Refused Bail in "Bizarre and Evil" Religious Sexual Assault Charges

An Australian churchgoer accused of sexually assaulting a woman during prayer sessions meant to lift a black magic curse on her was refused bail Sunday, it was reported.

A magistrate described the allegations against 61-year-old Sydney man Tony Golossian as "bizarre and evil" and declined to grant him bail, Australian Associated Press reported.

"Having read the allegations ... I must say that if this is proven it would be one of the most bizarre and evil cases I have come across in more than 40 years," magistrate Graham Johnson told a court in Sydney's western suburbs.

Golossian has been charged with more than 150 offences dating from 2001 to 2005.

New South Wales police alleged the woman approached Golossian, who claimed to be a senior member of the Coptic Orthodox church, for spiritual cleansing believing she had been cursed by a member of Sydney's Greek community.

Police alleged she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted at "prayer sessions" that took place at various hotels around western Sydney.