Unfortunately, El Paso priest acquitted of sexual assault charges

An El Paso priest was acquitted of charges that he sexually assaulted his "alleged" victim, an 18 year old woman. There was a sexual encounter, but while prosecutors allege that the sexual encounters between Rev. Phillip Taban and the woman amounted to sexual assault, the defense said that the encounters were between two consenting adults. Taban was acquitted after a jury of 9 women and three men deliberated over 8 hours. The sexual assault charges include three by force and three by emotional dependency.

Prosecutors laid out the timeline of sexual exploitation in their closing arguments Wednesday.

Officials said Taban, of Uganda, was serving at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church, 12200 Vista Del Sol, during the summer of 2007.
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During his closing arguments, prosecutor Humberto Acosta Jr. said the woman had been referred to Taban for counseling.

"Philip Taban is a clergyman who caused the (woman) to submit by exploiting (her) emotional dependency. It makes no difference that the defense comes up here and tells you, 'Well, she goes back a second time and it seems she is going along with everything,'" [Prosecutor Humberto] Acosta said to jurors.

On Sept. 3, 2007, Aguilar said, Taban and the woman went to the movies and were supposed to have lunch, but the woman said she needed to go pick up a laptop computer.
That is when the sexual contact happened, he said. The woman then left to go to work for eight hours and later returned to Taban's house, where sexual contact occurred a second time, he said.

Luis Aguilar, believed that as a foreigner, Taban did not get the American criminal justice system.

I don't think he ever fully grasped the way we administer justice," said Taban's court-appointed lawyer Luis Aguilar. "He didn't know if he would get a fair trial in this country as a foreigner. After two hours of watching a movie with a man she just met, there wasn't any emotional dependency."

The jury's not guilty verdict was accepted by District Attorney Jaime Esparza, who believes that sexual assault by emotional depencency is rare and must be tried by juries during individual cases.

"The jury did not agree with the theory of the case" that emotional dependency was present, he said. It was very clear that there were sexual relations between the two. It was just a matter of whether or not the priest exploited the relationship with her and that she had an emotional dependence because of that. The jury got to hear the evidence, and I'm very satisfied they heard the entire case and used their best judgment," he said. "In the future if this happens again, we'll take it to a jury."

Meanwhile, Taban is facing deportation after his visa expired while imprisoned.

"He lost his permission to function as a priest in the Diocese of El Paso on September 7, 2007," said the Rev. John Stowe, moderator of the curia for the Catholic Diocese of El Paso.

He said Taban remained a priest with the Diocese of Arua in Uganda.

"It will be up to the bishop of that diocese to determine" whether he can continue to serve as a priest there, Stowe said.

Taban's supporters said they must continue to stand behind him.

"Sometimes you put too many expectations on priests, but they're men and they're subject to temptation," Gallegos said. "We need to support them as men with their imperfections."

Gallegos said that throughout the time Taban was jailed, the priest remained in good spirits.
"He never lost his faith," Gallegos said.

Taban was visibly relieved after the jury returned the verdict.

"Thank you, Jesus," Aguilar said after the verdict was read.

Unfortunately for Taban, his immigration visa expired, meaning that he'll be deported, acording to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

"If a foreign national who entered the country legally with a visa allows his visa to expire, then that means his visa is out of status," she said. "They are returned to their country of origin."

Usually, she said, the countries require documentation, so the person cannot return until the process is complete. The time frame of the process varies, she said.

Supporters said that they would continue to help Taban and that they regret that he had to spend several months in jail.

"It's a shame. It goes to tell how much not being completely honest can hurt a person," Gallegos said.
"It's something that worries me as a man. The justice system needs to look at this and learn from this."