MANILA- The priest who was caught in an entrapment operation allegedly bringing a 13-year-old girl to a motel is no longer allowed to talk to and be with minors.

Antipolo Bishop Francisco de Leon in a statement Tuesday said Msgr. Arnel Fuentes Lagarejos is only allowed to contact his lawyer, brother priests and church authorities.

"He is particularly forbidden from any communication with minors and from maintaining company with them in any way whatsoever," De Leon said.

The 55-year-old Lagarejos was also stripped of his duties as parish priest of St. John The Baptist Parish and as president of Cainta Catholic College, while a probe is being conducted.

Lagarejos was arrested Friday in an entrapment operation in a mall along Sumulong Highway.

He allegedly attempted to have sex with the 13-year-old girl he was about to meet through a pimp who is also a minor. He is facing charges for violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

"Even as his guilt remains to be proved and the precepts of the Constitution grant him the presumption of innocence, the Diocese has taken every step to hold him answerable for the charges brought against him both before the Republic and before the Church," De Leon said.

The bishop also expressed sympathy for the 13-year-old girl and her parents and offered counseling and psychological services within the diocese.

The Diocese already began its probe of Lagarejos' case and results of such probe will be independent to that of law enforcers', De Leon said.

"But the Diocese of Antipolo makes it clear that it will not in any way condone or abet the trafficking of persons, particularly of minors, nor protect the offenders from prosecution, and subsequent trial and punishment when the evidence so warrants," he said.

De Leon also maintained that the Diocese of Antipolo continues to instill among its priests celibacy and chastity and condemns trafficking of persons.

"History will prove the claim that the Church has, at various times in its history, been the instrument of the liberation of trafficked persons. The Diocese will fully cooperate with the investigating and prosecuting authorities," he said.