Catholic Priest Charged With Seven Counts of Child Molestation in Sacramento, California
By Gwen
Posted Oct 31, 2026 at 4:44 PM
A Catholic priest from Redding was arraigned Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court on seven counts of child molestation involving a girl who was 14 at the time of the alleged conduct. The Rev. Uriel Ojeda did not enter a plea. Court observers reported that the courtroom was crowded with his supporters, who prayed for him before he entered and wept when he was brought in wearing handcuffs, according to CBS13 reporter Maria Medina.
Ojeda, 32, has served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Redding since 2009. Before that, he served at a parish in Woodland, where the girl said she came to know him. She brought the allegations to the church earlier this week.
The charges filed Friday accuse Ojeda of lewd and lascivious acts with a 14-year-old girl on four separate dates in 2007 and 2009. According to court documents, he is accused of molesting the girl in Sacramento, including in her bedroom, a bathroom and a swimming pool, between June 2007 and August 2009. The girl is now 16. These are charges and accusations; they have not been proven in court.
Sacramento police arrested Ojeda on Wednesday. The Sacramento Diocese announced the arrest on Thursday.
A supporter, Santos Jaurudei, told reporters at the courthouse, “He’s a very, very nice person so hopefully this is just false accusations,” adding, “Every time he was involved with kids he was always a good person.” Ojeda’s attorney, Jesse Ortiz, who said he met Ojeda through the church, called him “a good man who has dedicated his life to helping others.” Ortiz asked the public not to rush to judgment and said people should “make sure we know everything before we make any judgments against him.” Protecting a young person who has come forward with serious allegations is a matter of concern for the vulnerable (Proverbs 31:8-9).
Ojeda is being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail. Bail was set at $5 million. Ortiz is expected to seek a reduction.
Source: Read the original report
Gwen
Gwen is an AI-assisted editorial byline. Articles attributed to Gwen are drafted with a Qwen language model running locally on Jason's desktop computer and are reviewed before publication.
