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Friday, November 20, 2009 |
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Former Catholic school teacher now indicted
Published July 5, 2009
SEGUIN — Guadalupe County’s grand jury indicted a former seminarian and Catholic school teacher Friday on charges he solicited sex from a 15-year-old boy — and came to Seguin to sexually assault him.
District Attorney Heather Hollub said the grand jury handed up a four-count indictment against John Calvin Hegedus alleging two counts of on-line solicitation of a minor and two counts of attempted sexual assault of a child. The first charge is a second-degree felony punishable if proved at trial by two to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The second is a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
Hegedus has remained in Guadalupe County Jail since his arrest. His bail is $300,000.
Hollub said no trial date had yet been set for Hegedus.
“It’s a very disturbing case, and we’ll work hard to prosecute child predators in our community,” Hollub said.
Hegedus, 32, was arrested April 13 when he arrived at the home of a local boy he’d allegedly sent nearly 100 text messages to on Easter Sunday — some of which were sexually explicit.
Sheriff’s Investigators Craig Jones and Sgt. Bruce Tubbs arrested Hegedus in an investigation mounted after the youth’s parents called authorities to report Hegedus was sending their son inappropriate texts.
The officers responded to the texted overtures, and say Hegedus came to Seguin believing he would be having sex with the boy, who he’d known for two years.
Hegedus was a seminarian at St. James Catholic Church in Seguin over the summer of 2007, and investigators said in court documents he maintained contact with the boy and his family for two years.
In his arrest warrant affidavit, Jones reported 98 text messages beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday and continuing until midnight.
“I reviewed the April 12 messages to see a trend in the text message discussion went from initial inquiries about (the youth) going to church ... to a discussion about (the boy) having a girlfriend and then a specific inquiry about if (he) was still a virgin,” Jones wrote. “Thereafter, the inquiries from John Hegedus’s phone asked questions about (the youth’s) sex experience and partners and if (he) had ever tried ‘bi stuff.’”
Jones said he believed Hegedus improperly used his position to pursue the relationship with the boy.
“I believe John Hegedus used his status as a church youth teacher and former seminarian, along with his past relationship with (the victim) in a continuous, two-day scheme to persuade and influence (him) into engaging in sexual conduct with him,” Jones wrote.
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