Former St. Joachim vicar pleads guilty A...

Former St. Joachim vicar pleads guilty

A 72-year-old former Roman Catholic priest, who served as a

parochial vicar at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, pleaded

guilty on Friday to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, officials

said.

Gerardo Jarencio Tanilong pleaded guilty to two felony counts of

committing a lewd act upon a child. He faces up to three years and

eight months in prison.

He was serving at the Our Lady of Guadalupe-Delhi Church in Santa

Ana at the time of the incident.

Tanilong was sitting in the back seat of a vehicle next to the

victim when he groped her, officials said. He was returning from a

church function with the girl and her family. The victim told her

parents about the groping soon after returning home, officials said.

Tanilong came from Philippines in 1986 and became a priest in

1990. He served at St. Joachim for two years, said Father Joe Fenton,

spokesman for the Diocese of Orange. This was the only complaint

brought against Tanilong to the Diocese, he said.

Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange also announced on Friday

that Tanilong has been permanently removed from the ministry. He was

put on administrative leave in July when the allegation was made.

Tanilong will no longer be allowed to function publicly as a priest

or wear the clerical collar, Brown said.

Tanilong is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2 at the North

Justice Center in Fullerton.

Armed robber accosts woman

An armed man reportedly took a purse from a woman at gunpoint in

the parking lot of a Japanese supermarket Thursday evening, Costa

Mesa police officials said.

The robber accosted the woman as she was walking toward her car,

said Lt. John FitzPatrick.

“He pointed the gun at her, took her purse, got into his car and

left,” he said.

No one was hurt during the incident and no shots were fired.

The robber is described as a 25- to 30-year-old man, about

5-foot-9 with shoulder-length black hair and wearing dark-colored

clothes.

He is said to have gotten away in an older model American car.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Costa Mesa Police

Department at (714) 754-5281.