January 28, 2005

Buzanowski pleads not guilty to charges of sexual abuse

GREEN BAY (WI)
News-Chronicle

By Anna Krejci
News-Chronicle
A priest accused of sexually assaulting a boy in a Green Bay Catholic school pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in Brown County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Donald Buzanowski, accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy he was counseling at Ss. Peter and Paul School, 1420 Harvey St. in Green Bay, in 1988 appeared in court beside his lawyer Owen Monfils.

The defendant and his lawyer requested a signature bond or that the cash bond be reduced from $100,000 to $1,000. The motion was denied by Brown County Circuit Court Judge J.D. McKay. In argument for a reduced cash bond, Buzanowski's lawyer filed a motion Jan. 18.

The motion states that Buzanowski can safely be released into the community and cited a Jan. 14 letter in which a psychologist studied Buzanowski's history in treatment programs while incarcerated for possessing child pornography. Buzanowski was convicted on a federal child pornography possession charge in 2000. The psychologist concluded that Buzanowski's treatment left him at a pretreatment risk level allowable for placement in the community with formal supervision. The motion also stated if Buzanowski were released, a federal probation officer's supervision over him would resume.

Posted by kshaw at January 28, 2005 08:40 AM