California Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Denis Lyons of Seal Beach, a former Roman Catholic priest, has been arrested for an alleged molestation of a young boy that he committed in the 1990s. Lyons is being charged with four felony counts of molesting a child under the age of 14 between 1992 and 1995. He had previously been charged with child molestation but the charges were dropped because there was a statute of limitations issue, since the crime had been 20 years old. Earlier this year, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange announced a settlement with a man who said that Lyons also molested him when he was a student at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa. In 2002, Lyons was removed from the ministry and “was committed to a life of prayer and penance”. If convicted for the most recent charges, Lyons may face up to 14 years in state prison.
Lately, in the media there has been a lot of news coverage regarding Catholic priests and molestations of young boys. The media has stereotyped all priests as sexual predators, which is completely unfair. No matter what city you live in, whether Fullerton, Newport Beach or Anaheim, if you are charged with a crime as serious as molestation or rape, you need to call an experienced attorney right away to assist you. It will be interesting to see how the trial of Mr. Lyons goes.
If you want to know more about molestation, rape, or any other sex crimes, call California criminal defense attorney William Weinberg @ 949.474.8008 in his Irvine office.