February 18, 2005

Complaint filed on suspended priest

OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer

By John Nolan
The Associated Press

A Roman Catholic priest suspended by the church for sexually abusing children violated terms of his suspension by living near children and presenting himself as a priest at a funeral, an advocacy group for abuse victims says.

The Rev. Thomas Brunner is on paid suspension from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He is living with a woman and her adopted son in the Dayton suburb of Riverside, said Christy Miller, co-leader for the Cincinnati chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Brunner is an abuser who should not have access to children, Miller said Thursday. She faxed a letter of complaint to the Cincinnati Archdiocese office on Wednesday.

"It seems that Tom Brunner is blatantly disregarding your authority and is mocking the directives of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati," Miller wrote to Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk. "Brunner, as you know, is still a priest employed by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, therefore still under your supervision."

Miller also sent the archdiocese a copy of a published obituary that reported Brunner had presided at a Dec. 3 funeral in Hamilton.

Posted by kshaw at February 18, 2005 08:20 AM