CLAYTON, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — Father Clemente Olvera Guerrero, CP, the parochial vicar of St. Ann Church, was arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution with a 20-year-old man he allegedly met on the homosexual hookup app Grindr in the church’s parking lot.
During an unrelated search for a missing person during around 1 a.m. on August 4, a police deputy spotted the young man, identified as Ja’Quavis Brinson, inside a vehicle in St. Ann’s parking lot and another man, later identified as Fr. Clemente, fleeing the scene on foot, per JoCoReport.com. The 47-year-old priest was promptly arrested and charged with felony solicitation of prostitution after an investigation revealed that he had arranged to meet the 20-year-old via Grindr, allegedly for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.
Investigators also believe this may not have been Guerrero’s first time soliciting prostitution in the church parking lot. The priest has since been released on a $2,500 secured bond, which WRAL News reported was paid by Father Peter Grace, who is listed as the pastor of St. Ann’s Church.
READ: Washington Post attacks Catholic group identifying priests who use homosexual hookup apps
The Diocese of Raleigh quickly removed Guerrero as the parochial vicar of St. Ann’s and suspended his priestly faculties.
“The diocese received notice … of the arrest of Fr. Clemente Olvera Guerrero, CP on criminal charges connected to alleged inappropriate behavior with an adult,” the diocese wrote in a statement shared with LifeSiteNews.
“While Fr. Clemente deserves a full presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, his priestly faculties in the Diocese of Raleigh have been revoked and he will be returned to his order while this matter is further investigated by legal and canonical authorities.”
In recent years, numerous Catholic clergy have been caught using Grindr or engaging in sodomy, and in several instances received little to no punishment.
READ: Fr. Altman’s bishop reassigns disgraced Grindr-using priest to new parish
In one infamous case in 2021, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, the general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), resigned just hours before a bombshell report alleged that he had frequently visited gay bars and private residences while using the homosexual hookup app on an almstost daily basis. Less than a year later, Burrill was reassigned as a parish priest in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, by Bishop William P. Callahan.
