Only On 2: Lawyer Says His Client Was Fired After Complaining About Receiving Explicit Sex Text From Priest

IRVINE (CBSLA.com)  —  A Stockman man claims he was fired after he complained about receiving sexually explicit text messages from a priest.

The man has filed a lawsuit. His attorney is based in Irvine.

The lawsuit was just filed. The accused priest reports is not just the head of a church in Stockton but also the head of a Catholic school, namely the Presentation School.

The alleged victim believes children could be in danger.

For the past seven years, the schools fountains and pools were serviced by the man who filed the suit.

The man's attorney, John Manly, said his client is a married man in his 40s.

Manly said that when his client would clean the pool, Pastor Lawrence McGovern would often sunbathe and make flirtatious comments.

"Laying around in a Speedo, making our client very uncomfortable. Our client's a married man; this is his pastor," said Manly.

The suit alleges  McGovern sent the pool man a picture of his genitals in late July. CBS2/KCAL9 has blurred the picture.

McGovern allegedly then wrote, "Oops. Sorry about that. The curse of the Internet. Shame on me. What is my penance?"

The man wrote back, "I thought you were celibate monsignor."

The alleged response?

"But it is not me. Celibate means not married -- sometimes I get the wrong images."

The suit claims the pool man then reported the behavior to police.

Days later, he said, he was fired.

"Monsignor McGovern either fired him because he reported him or he fired him because he rebuffed whatever advance McGovern was making," Manly says.

The Diocese of Stockton made the following statement: "In accordance with the Canon law of the Church, Bishop Stephen Blaire has placed Monsignor McGovern on administrative leave pending a full and complete investigation."

Stockton police investigated the man's complaint and referred the case to the DA's office. Fujii reports that office is now deciding whether or not to file charges.

The man's child is scheduled to start kindergarten at the school where McGovern is the pastor, but Manly said his client wants him gone.

"If any principal or any school administrator sent a picture of their penis to a parent, they should be fired, not the other way around," Manly said.

Before McGovern's current position, former Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony appointed McGovern to the position of Stockton's Vicar General, the second in command of the Stockton diocese. In that position, Manly says, McGovern oversaw at least two priests who were found to have molested children.