Former Catholic priest Hector Coria-Gonzalez may be deported to Mexico after being convicted of statutory rape in California last year. 

Coria-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old parishioner. 

On Friday, the 46-year-old was taken from his home in Davis by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations officials, and taken to the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Sacramento County.

A news release from the agency said the former cleric will stay there without bond while his immigration case is pending. 

Coria-Gonzalez was a priest at St James Parish in Davis, and engaged in sexual acts with an altar girl. Following his conviction, he was defrocked by the Catholic Church - which prompted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to begin a deportation investigation. Coria-Gonzalez was in the country legally before he committed the crime. 

Formal deportation proceedings were begun immediately after his arrest, officials told the Sacramento Bee.

Pope Francis has condemned the abuse of children, and made clear that his papacy will not cover up the horrific crimes. 

"There are no privileges," he told journalists on a flight from the Middle East to Rome after visiting Israel, Jordan, and the West bank last year. "On this issue we must go forward. Zero tolerance."

No bishop has been publicly sanctioned for covering up sexual abuses within the Catholic Church, although Francis' sex abuse advisory commission has stated that bishop accountability is one of their priorities.

The Associated Press reported earlier this month that the sex abuse advisory commission is currently drafting a sanction proposal for the Pope to consider, and Francis recently sent an investigator to Kansas City, Missouri to investigate charges that a local bishop covered up a priest's sexual misconduct.