FARGO, North Dakota (AP) – A judge has set bail at $5 million cash for a Catholic priest accused of molesting two boys in North Dakota in the 1990s.
KFGO radio reports that Fernando Laude Sayasaya appeared in court on Tuesday via video from the Cass County Jail. He’s facing two counts of gross sexual imposition.
Sayasaya was recently returned to the United States from the Philippines, where he had been since 1998. A Philippines court ordered his extradition in 2010. He appealed, lost and was ultimately arrested last month.
Prosecutors allege that Sayasaya abused two underage siblings from 1995 to 1998, while he was assigned to the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and St. Mary’s Cathedral in the Fargo area.
They argued that Sayasaya was a flight risk. He didn’t oppose the bail amount.
