The man who was priest over a Catholic congregation in Clear Lake is now beginning sex offender counseling after pleading guilty in an adult bookstore sting.
Father Alberto Maullon, 53, was arrested by Houston Police in December at the "Big City Adult Book Store" in the 10,100 block of the Gulf Freeway, just a few miles away from the church he led.
At the time of his arrest, the Galveston Houston Diocese was providing no details to reporters about his position at the church or his work around children or counseling at the church.
His name no longer appears on the St. Paul The Apostle Catholic Church website.
The HPD Vice Squad was running a sting at the porn shop, looking for people who were there for sexual activity with others at the store. An undercover officer said he exchanged glances with Father Maullon, who then started masturbating for the undercover officer to see.
He was arrested on a charge of Public Lewdness.
In his guilty plea, he was fined $300 and placed on 18-months of Deferred Adjudication probation.
Deferred adjudication means that, if he finishes his 18-months of probation, there will be no final conviction entered on his record. In other words, he is pleading guilty to the crime but his record will be free of any final conviction if his probation goes well. If anyone asks if he's been convicted of a crime, he can answer no.
The terms of his probation require Maullon to begin sex offender counseling, and he will be monitored as part of the Harris County Probation Department's sex offender caseload.
His probation terms are the same ones that govern any sex offender, and it includes a provision that allows his counselor to use a lie detector test or even a plethysmograph.
For those who don't know what that device is, a penile plethysmograph is a device that is wrapped around a person's penis to measure arousal to certain images or scenarios.
If a man says he's not turned on, the plethysmograph inside his pants will tell the truth.
His counselor is not required to use such a device, but just as with any sex offender being monitored by the county probation department, it's an option.
Parishioners expressed support for the priest shortly after his arrest, with one member suggesting Maullon must have had a good reason for being at the adult book store during the sting.
Now, the question is whether Maullon will show up elsewhere in the Catholic church, a criticism the faith has been enduring for years. A guilty plea that leaves no final conviction on his record would certainly make him eligible for future employment around kids or in other positions of trust after his probation is finished.
More information: Report from the day of priest's arrest
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