Father Hector David Mendoza Vela
Diocese of Oakland
Ordained: 2013
Suspended: 2019
Assignment History:
- 2013: St. John The Baptist Parish (San Lorenzo, CA)
- 2016: Corpus Christi Parish (Fremont, CA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Hector David Mendoza-Vela:
An El Salvador native, Fr. Hector David Mendoza-Vela, was arrested and charged in 2019 with 30 criminal and five felony counts of lewd acts upon a child. According to media reports, Mendoza-Vela pled no contest for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old boy over 18 months in 2016 and 2017. According to an Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman, the abuse occurred at the boy’s home in Hayward. During a pretext phone call to Vela by the boy that investigators monitored, he admitted to touching the boy inappropriately. However, no further details were released.
Detectives later went to the church in Fremont and arrested Mendoza-Vela, who confessed in an interview to touching the boy inappropriately. According to media reports, Vela also wrote the victim’s family an apology letter. Vela was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. The canonical process was initiated in 2020 after the victim filed suit. The plea agreement also stated that Vela should register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and stay away from the victim for ten years.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Oakland in California. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in California, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Oakland now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in California and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.