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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Alleged sex acts occurred monthly

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

Gonsalves
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WAILUKU, Maui — A recently unsealed criminal indictment against a Roman Catholic deacon states that the 68-year-old man engaged in monthly sex acts with a boy during a two-year period, and that alleged assaults took place over a three-year period.

James "Ron" Gonsalves, who is on leave as deacon and administrator at St. Ann Church in Waihe'e, has been charged with 30 counts of first-degree sexual assault and 30 counts of third-degree sexual assault.

Gonsalves also is accused of two counts of attempted first-degree sexual assault.

Gonsalves has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He remains free on $100,000 bail while awaiting a Nov. 14 trial.

The indictment, unsealed Friday, alleges that Gonsalves had "sexual contact" with the boy at least once a month between June 2002, when the boy was 12, and May 2004.

The contact continued from September 2004 to December 2004, and one incident occurred between January and May of this year, the indictment said. The final instance occurred on June 14, it said.

Police have said the incidents occurred at Gonsalves' home and at the church.

The unsealed version of the indictment was redacted out by the county Prosecutor's Office to eliminate the name of the minor.

Maui Judge Shackley Raffetto ordered Gonsalves to refrain from contacting any minors. He also confined him to his 'Iao Valley home, except when visiting his attorney's Wailuku office.

At a hearing last week, Raffetto gave the defendant permission to visit his mother in the hospital, as long as he's escorted by someone from his lawyer's office.

Gonsalves is a lifelong Maui resident who has no previous criminal record. A single man, the former Hawaiian Airlines ticket agent retired six years ago to take the job of deacon at St. Ann Church. A number of parishioners have expressed their support for Gonsalves despite the charges.