Charges to be filed against priest in sexual assault case

Kim Smith

Friday, April 19, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.

Charges will be filed against a Henderson priest who has been accused of sexually assaulting six boys over a five-year period, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Bloxham said this morning.

Bloxham said the exact nature and number of charges to be filed will be determined after detectives finish re-interviewing the alleged victims, who are all adults now.

The charges could be filed as early as today, Bloxham said.

The allegations against the Rev. Mark Roberts were made public when Roberts was suspended from duty at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church Jan. 30.

In addition to criminal charges, Roberts could also face a civil trial.

Roberts was sued on March 21 by the families of six Henderson boys who allege he sexually assaulted them between 1996 and 2001.

The lawsuit also alleges that Bishop Daniel Walsh, the former head of the Diocese of Las Vegas, who was transferred to Santa Rosa, Calif., in May, 2000; his successor, Bishop Joseph Pepe, and the diocese were negligent because they knew or should have known about the abuse and stopped it.

Bloxham said Roberts is out of the state at the current time, but remaining in touch with his attorney, George Foley Sr., who has promised to make his client available once the charges are filed.