Dave Warren, Managing editor

Most sex offenders are required, under state law, to register. Their pictures and criminal histories are then posted to a state-run Web site. But for one resident of Rio Rancho, it seems he intends on keeping his past a secret from his neighbors.

Former Catholic priest Daniel Calabrese was convicted in 1992 of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy in Dutchess County, New York, where he was serving as a priest. However, Calabrese has not registered with New Mexico as a sex offender.

According to the state's attorney general's office, Calabrese has filed a request with the 13th Judicial District to be exempt from registering. That request is being argued behind closed doors and court documents relating to the case have been sealed. While the details of the case are sealed, certain aspects of the case are similar to a previous attempt by a man in southern New Mexico to keep from registering as a sex offender.

In that matter, the state appellate court ruled in favor of the law, forcing the man to register. Calabrese's case is being heard as ‘John Doe' vs. State of New Mexico in an attempt to keep his name from the public.

Dutchess County prosecutor Marjorie Smith said in a phone interview she was concerned that the state of New Mexico had not enforced its law requiring convicted sex offenders to register when Calabrese moved to the state. "I remember this case very well," she said. "I am not surprised that this man is fighting New Mexico to remain unregistered."

Under the current statute anyone who is convicted of a sexual crime and moves to New Mexico is required to register within 30 days.

Calabrese's name came to light last year when the Archdiocese of New York turned over a list of all its priests who had been accused of the sexual abuse of minors. In an article in The New York Times, Calabrese was listed as having been convicted of sodomizing a boy in his church in Poughkeepsie. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

After leaving New York, Calabrese settled in Albuquerque, but moved to Rio Rancho after an investigative reporter began working on a story about the former priest.

For a period of time Calabrese lived on Nicklaus Drive before moving into a home on Roadrunner Loop in the River's Edge One subdivision. The Observer has learned he also works for an organization that brings him into contact with children.

The Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety was unaware of Calabrese's past, according to officer John Francis, department spokesman. "We are certainly interested if we have a convicted sex offender living within the city," he said.

Dutchess County District Attorney Bill Grady, whose office prosecuted Calabrese, told Newsday in April 2002, that he was concerned about priests who committed acts of violence against children and were then assigned to other locations. The comments were made after Suffolk County, New York, District Attorney Thomas Spota decided to call for a grand jury investigation into the church's continued cover-up of wayward priests.

"The concern is not only the conduct that took place several years ago and how the church handled that particular conduct, but whether that conduct exists today," Grady said. "It's encouraging that there apparently exists reason to justify the convening of a grand jury to explore an issue that has plagued the church and the community for years. Father (Daniel) Calabrese from our county is a good example. He was transferred up from one of the other (New York) counties after providing beer and pornographic movies to minors."

That grand jury, which heard testimony including the circumstances of Calabrese's past and his conviction, found gross negligence on the part of the Rockville Center Archdiocese in the handling of accused and convicted priests.