A D.C. Catholic priest has rejected a plea deal from prosecutors in a case stemming from charges that he sexually abused two children and one adult woman in his Columbia Heights parish.

Father Urbano Vazquez, formerly a priest at Shrine of the Sacred Heart parish in Northwest Washington, was arrested on the sexual abuse charges late last year. In November he was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in his parish, and a month later he was arrested again on charges that he also abused a 9-year-old girl and an adult woman.

Vazquez “maintains his innocence. He will contest the charges at trial,” his attorney told WTOP, which first reported the news. He did not accept a plea deal that would have had him plead guilty to one count of 2nd degree child sexual abuse, one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child with aggravating circumstances, and one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse, according to court filings. That plea deal would have earned him a maximum sentence of 11 years and 3 months in prison. Without it, Vazquez faces a maximum of 30 years and 6 months in prison, per WTOP.

Vazquez was a priest at Sacred Heart for about four years before his arrest, according to the Washington archdiocese. Allegations of sexual abuse first came to the attention of the archdiocese in October of last year, and the church immediately suspended Vazquez from ministry, according to a statement the archdiocese released at the time. A few days after his suspension, a member of the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin, which oversees Sacred Heart Parish, contacted the Metropolitan Police Department to report the allegations. Vazquez was arrested and charged with second degree child abuse on November 7.

A 13-year-old girl who attended services at Sacred Heart alleged that Vazquez had put his hand down the front of her shirt on several occasions. After her accusations were made public, a student at Sacred Heart School, which is affiliated with the church in Columbia Heights, reported that another female student had told her about being inappropriately touched by Vazquez. According to a copy of Vazquez’s charging documents, the girl in question told investigators that Vazquez “made out” with her and touched private areas on her body from the time she was nine until shortly after she turned 10. The abuse only stopped after the girl says she told her mother about it, and her mother confronted Vazquez.

Vazquez is also being charged with sexual abuse for inappropriately touching an adult woman. Three other victims also came forward to accuse Vazquez in the case, but he was not charged because the statute of limitations had run out on those cases.

Vazquez’s trial has been set for August 5.

Previously:
Columbia Heights Catholic Priest Arrested On Two Additional Counts Of Sexual Abuse
Priest At Northwest Parish Arrested For Sexually Abusing A Teenage Girl