Diocese of Reno removes priest from ministry after nude video leaked online
Church officials treating release of Fr. Honesto Agustin's explicit content as revenge porn crime
(Author’s bias note: In 2023, I was heavily involved in a social media awareness campaign that focused on removing a priest from the diocese mentioned in this article.)
The Diocese of Reno’s Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg announced today that Fr. Honesto Agustin has been removed from ministry as pastor of St. Albert The Great Church in Reno “out of an abundance of caution” after a nude video of the priest was posted on social media. The letter describes the explicit content as a “10 second video of Fr. Honesto undressed alone in his home.” The video was allegedly posted on “duplicate” social media accounts using Agustin’s name. The letter from the diocese does not say whether or not Agustin knew he was being recorded.
Mueggenborg said that the diocese hired an independent investigator with expertise in digital imaging to determine whether or not the image of Agustin was a deepfake. “The video is unquestionably Fr. Honesto,” the bishop writes. “And the investigator concluded that it was very unlikely that the video was AI-generated.”
The diocese said that the name of the person suspected of leaking the video online has been reported to law enforcement. The letter did not state what type of relationship, if any, Agustin had with the alleged leaker or how the video was obtained by the person who created the fake Fr. Agustin social media accounts. “To the best of our knowledge, no crimes were committed by Fr. Honesto,” the letter says.
Today’s announcement seeks to answer questions raised by the diocese’s original April 25 letter which said that Agustin was granted “early retirement” due to “priestly conduct and personal issues” but offered no more details.
This is not the first time Agustin has been the subject of a sex scandal. The Philippines-born priest was suspended in 2006 when the Diocese of Reno received a complaint about inappropriate behavior toward a minor, according to news reports archived by Bishop Accountability. Agustin was restored to ministry in 2007 after law enforcement declined to pursue prosecution.
Agustin served as pastor of Reno’s St. Albert The Great parish since 2015. In 2020, while serving as associate pastor of this same parish, Fr. Patrick Klekas began to groom a married woman parishioner into a sexual relationship. There is no evidence to suggest that Agustin knew about Klekas’ abuse while it was taking place or that he enabled any type of cover-up. During my investigation of the Klekas case, I only heard positive comments about Agustin from those who know him.
Bishop Mueggenborg says that he has been in communication with the Diocesan Adult Misconduct Review Board and they are considering what steps to take next.
My personal past experiences with Mueggenborg and the Diocese of Reno compel me to mention that I am skeptical about whether or not church officials are being honest about this case and if they are leaving out important parts of the story.
As with all my investigations about priest misconduct, I invite anyone with knowledge of the case to contact me.