Arrest warrant quashed for priest charged in Joliet battery case

An arrest warrant was quashed for a Catholic priest charged with putting a girl’s hair in his mouth in Joliet and he will next appear in court on Feb. 24, court records show.

Patrick Kenneally, an attorney with Burke Law Group, filed a motion last Friday to quash the arrest warrant of the Rev. Carlos Martins, 50, who resides in Detroit, Michigan, according to a court filing from Kenneally.

Martins was not taken to the Will County jail because he is not charged with an offense that is eligible for detention under the Illinois SAFE-T Act. The law abolished cash bail for defendants in the fall of 2023.

Will County Judge Marzell Richardson quashed the arrest warrant on Monday but he also requested Martins follow a no-contact order while his case is pending trial.

Martins is due back at court at 9 a.m. on Feb. 24 in the third floor of the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.

Martins, who is not a priest with the Diocese of Joliet, has been charged with misdemeanor battery of a 13-year-old girl.

The criminal complaint alleged Martins put the girl’s hair in his mouth last November during a tour of a relic of St. Jude. The charge was filed after a Joliet Police Department investigation.

Kenneally’s motion to quash the warrant said Martins is a Catholic priest who “resides in Detroit, Michigan and lives in a communal setting with members of his religious order.”

“[Martins] is a public figure, author and well-known speaker. He is readily recognizable by hundreds of thousands of Catholics. [Martins] has proclaimed his innocence in this case and intends to answer the charges,” Kenneally’s motion said.

Kenneally’s motion alleged there is “no evidence of bodily injury” in the case. Court records do not show a response from prosecutors in the case.