After a fourth alleged victim was identified by the San Luis Obispo Attorney General’s Office, 61-year-old Ted Gabrielli, arrested last month in Los Osos by San Luis Obispo detectives, now faces additional charges of child molestation for a total of 26.

And at a July 8 hearing, Gabrielli, who previously worked at two social ministries in Los Gatos, pleaded not guilty to all counts he faces. He is scheduled for a pre-preliminary hearing on July 31, according to court reports.

Although court records show that Judge Michael S. Frye was set to preside over the pre-preliminary hearing, records also indicate that on July 14, a peremptory challenge was filed, which disqualifies the judge assigned to the case. It is unclear if Judge Frye will still preside over the case.

Gabrielli was originally arrested on June 12, the culmination of an investigation conducted by the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office that began after a child abuse report was filed on Aug. 28, 2024, according to the Tribune.

Court records from re:SearchCA, an online repository and case management system used by San Luis Obispo County, show that the 26 felony charges filed against Gabrielli include 18 counts of “Oral Copulation Upon Minor Under 14yo by Means of Force/Duress”; two counts of “Continuous Sexual Abuse Of Child”; three counts of “Lewd Act With Child 14 Or 15/Deft 10 Years Older;” one count of “Lewd Act With Child Under 14 With Force.” He also faces one felony enhancement of “Felony Sex Offense Specified Circumstances Victim Under 14 Years of Age.”

The alleged offenses vary in location, taking place in San Luis Obispo County, Los Angeles County, Santa Clara County and El Dorado County.

Aside from working in Los Gatos as Provincial Assistant for Social Ministries and then Provincial Assistant for International Ministries, the Tribune reported that Gabrielli worked for the Most Holy Trinity Parish in San Jose, Dolores Mission church in Los Angeles, on the Loyola High School of Los Angeles Board of Directors and at Our Lady of Guadalupe in San Diego.

In a June 17 news release, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office explained that the three original victims were members of the same family, who befriended Gabrielli while he was working as a Catholic priest. Gabrielli allegedly took the three boys to his parents’ residence in Los Osos and sexually assaulted them, which continued for around eight years. The charges relating to these three alleged victims took place between 1991 and 1994.

According to an amended criminal complaint filed by San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow, the fourth alleged victim in the case came forward on June 26; the additional charges related to them occurred the most recently, between 2005 and 2009

In a statement, Ilan Funke-Bilu, Gabrielli’s attorney, noted that the defendant is “a wonderful, wonderful man and he’s not gonna be bitter,” and that Gabrielli’s not guilty pleas “speak volumes of our position.”

Gabrielli is currently being held in custody in the San Luis Obispo County jail with no bail, according to an email from the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office.

Anthony Luo is an intern with Metro Publishing.