WASHINGTON — For 12 years, Sylvia Chavez has warned leaders of the Catholic Church in the United States and Mexico about the priest she alleges sexually abused her as a child in California.

She met with church officials in San Francisco to describe the assaults, enlisted American lawyers to search for the priest in Mexico, and wrote letters to two successive archbishops of Yucatan, pleading with them to keep the Rev. Teodoro Baquedano Pech away from children.

At one point, she even received written assurance from the Yucatan Archdiocese that “we have taken all precautions . . . to restrict Father Baquedano’s access to children and vulnerable adults.’’

Yet Baquedano remains in the ministry, in a case that underscores the challenges that US victims of clergy abuse face when their alleged abusers move overseas. A photo taken on Easter shows the priest, 70, officiating at a baptism in one of several rural hamlets outside Yucatan’s state capital, Merida, where he conducts services.

“When I saw that picture on my computer screen, I wanted to pick up the monitor and throw it,’’ said Chavez, a 54-year-old preschool teacher who still lives in San Francisco and struggles with what she says happened to her between ages 11 and 16.

Although Baquedano has denied abusing Chavez, the Archdiocese of San Francisco settled a lawsuit in 2006, paying her $300,000 without admitting culpability. Nevertheless, Chavez said, she “cannot rest’’ as long as Baquedano remains a priest with access to children.

“It’s not over at all,’’ she said. “He’s a criminal who uses his collar as a weapon. If he hurt me, he’s still capable of hurting others.’’

In recent weeks, the Catholic Church has faced a barrage of allegations that it allowed clergy members accused of molesting children in the United States to continue working as priests overseas. In some cases, the priests have remained in the ministry despite concerted efforts by US victims and church officials to hold them accountable.

Although news organizations in Yucatan have followed up on Baquedano’s case, the articles about him haven’t generated much public outcry, according to Jesus Delgado Centeno, director of a network of online publications in the southeastern Mexican state.

Reached by phone in his church living quarters, Baquedano said repeatedly, “I don’t want to answer any questions. Please call the archbishop about this.’’

Armando Martinez, an attorney for the archbishop of Yucatan, Emilio Carlos Berlie Belaunzaran, said that after determining that there were no accusations against Baquedano by anyone in Yucatan, church officials saw no need for further action.

“The archbishop has zero tolerance for abuse of minors. . . . But you need evidence. We can’t remove someone simply because of a letter alerting us to an accusation [in the United States]. He wasn’t even convicted there.’’

One political leader has taken notice. “We need to investigate exactly what duties this priest has and if he really is in contact with children,’’ said Bertha Perez Medina, a member of Yucatan’s state assembly. “Where was the moral responsibility of [church officials] if they knew of these accusations and continued to protect him and allow him to continue working with children?’’

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.