The Latest: LA bishop had been accused of child sex abuse

LOS ANGELES — The Latest on the resignation of Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Monsignor Alexander Salazar (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

Prosecutors say the resigning auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles had been accused of sexually abusing a child 16 years ago.

A Los Angeles district attorney’s spokesman said Wednesday that prosecutors declined to bring a case against Monsignor Alexander Salazar in 2002.

Spokesman Ricardo Santiago says Salazar had been accused of committing a lewd act on a child.

Santiago had no information on why prosecutors declined to charge the priest. Salazar was pastor at a Los Angeles church at the time.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles says it was first informed of allegations against Salazar in 2005. They say the allegations dated to the 1990s.

The Vatican announced Wednesday that the Pope Francis had accepted Salazar’s resignation following allegations of misconduct with a minor in the 1990s.

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3:25 a.m.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Monsignor Alexander Salazar, following allegations of misconduct with a minor in the 1990s.

The Vatican announced the resignation in a statement Wednesday. It was the latest in a string of cases of alleged misconduct against bishops to come to light this year, following the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

The current archbishop of Los Angeles, Most Rev. Jose Gomez, said the archdiocese was made aware of the claim in 2005, which law enforcement had declined to prosecute, but that the archdiocese forwarded the complaint to the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases.

Gomez said that office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, imposed precautionary measures against Salazar and a further investigation found the allegation credible.

The Associated Press