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<DIV class=buffer><FONT size=6><STRONG>Hawaii deacon pleads guilty of sex
abuse </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV class=buffer><EM class=timestamp>Thursday, May 18, 2006 6:16 a.m.
ET</EM></DIV>
<DIV class=buffer>The Associated Press<BR></DIV></DIV>
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<P>WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) -- <FONT color=#ff0000><FONT color=#0000ff>A Roman
Catholic deacon on Maui pleaded guilty to more than</FONT> <STRONG>60 counts of
sexually abusing a boy</STRONG> <FONT color=#0000ff>during a three-year
period</FONT>.</FONT></P>
<P>James "Ron" Gonsalves, 69, of Wailuku, <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>could
receive one year in jail, three years of home confinement and 20 years
probation</FONT></STRONG> under a plea agreement with prosecutors.</P>
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<P>When Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto asked the deacon why he was pleading
guilty, Gonsalves replied, "Because it's true."</P>
<P>Gonsalves pleaded guilty Wednesday to 30 counts of first-degree sexual
assault, two counts of attempted first-degree sexual assault and 30 counts of
third-degree sexual assault.</P>
<P>Gonsalves had been placed on leave about a month before he was arrested and
charged last July. He was ordained a deacon, the lowest of the ordained
ministry, in 1987, and was assigned to oversee St. Ann parish in Waihee in
1999.</P>
<P>The sexual abuse began in June 2002, when the boy was 12, and continued until
last June, Lt. Glenn Cuomo of the Criminal Investigation Division said. The
sexual assaults occurred at the church and at Gonsalves' home, he said.</P>
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<P>Let's it make it a little more just. Multiply the jail time by 100 and
include the prosecutor and judge.</P>
<P><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>