TENNESSEE
Jackson Sun
By TAJUANA CHESHIER
tcheshier@jacksonsun.com
Feb 4 2005
Although a civil lawsuit against him is still pending, Father Richard Mickey will return to his duties later this month at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Jackson and St. John's Catholic Church in Brownsville.
Twin brothers Blain and Blair Chambers have accused Mickey of sexually abusing them in 1980 while they were students at Bishop Byrne High School in Memphis, according to a lawsuit the brothers filed in August in Memphis Circuit Court.
After the lawsuit was filed, Mickey was reassigned to administrative duties in Memphis pending an internal investigation by the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.
Bishop J. Terry Steib announced this week he decided the allegations against Mickey were not credible, a press release from the diocese said. The bishop made the decision to allow Mickey to return to Jackson after he accepted a report from the Diocesan Review Board. The board's task is to advise the bishop in his assessment of allegations of sexual abuse of minors, the release said.
Mickey, who has denied the allegations, will return to the parishes on Feb. 19.