ILLINOIS
Times Review
BY ALAN SCHMIDT
STAFF WRITER
A priest who fled the country last year to escape charges of sexual abuse has been arrested in his native India.
The Rev. Sleeva Raju Policetti had been assigned as an associate pastor at St. Tarcissus Catholic Church, 6040 W. Ardmore Ave., from 1996 until his departure in May 2002.
The FBI announced June 4 that Policetti, 44, was taken into custody late last month in Hyderabad, India by agents of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Cook County Circuit Court issued an arrest warrant for Policetti on May 16, 2002 after he was charged with criminal sexual assault. Policetti is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl repeatedly between Jan. 1, 2001 and April 29, 2002. He was also charged in a federal criminal complaint with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
