BALTIMORE — An imprisoned priest, who formerly worked for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, will soon be deported from the United States.
Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, 69, is currently serving a nine-year sentence at the Jessup Correctional Institution for sexually abusing an underage girl while serving as a priest at Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Laurel.
Although the abuse occurred from 2005 to 2009, the victim came forward in 2016.
But it wasn't until February 2020 that Velez-Lopez was charged.
By that time Velez-Lopez had moved onto the Archdiocese of Alexandria, Louisiana.
According to aninvestigative report issued by the Maryland Attorney General's Office in April 2023, Velez-Lopez admitted to impregnating the teenage victim in 2010.
Between time of the abuse and the date charges were filed, Velez-Lopez became a U.S. Citizen.
In order to be approved, Velez-Lopez was required to submit an application for Naturalization through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
In 2013, under penalty of perjury, Velez-Lopez swore to never having committed a crime for which he wasn't arrested, and attested to providing only true and accurate information to government officials.
Based on his own admission and 2021 conviction, Velez-Lopez lied, and was therefore charged with passport fraud.
A federal judge in Louisiana sentenced Velez-Lopez to 12 months time served, followed by a year of supervised release, on condition that he be civilly denaturalized as a United States citizen.
Upon completing his sentence, Velez-Lopez will be handed over to ICE for deportation to his native country of Colombia.
During his time with the Archdiocese, Velez-Lopez also worked at Holy Trinity in Glen Burnie, St. John the Evangelist in Frederick, Sacred Heart in Glyndon, and St. Joseph in Cockeysville.
