March 30, 2005

Priest fired by school quits parish

LAWRENCE (MA)
Boston Herald

By Marie Szaniszlo
Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - Updated: 04:51 AM EST

A priest has resigned as pastor of a Haverhill church after he was fired from his position as a school chaplain for exchanging ``inappropriate'' electronic messages with three students, officials said.

The Rev. Michael C. Randone resigned from Sacred Heart parish after Central Catholic High School in Lawrence fired him last week, based on three violations of its policy discouraging off-campus contact with students that is unrelated to school business.

None of the three instances school officials were able to verify were sexual in nature, said Brother Richard Van Houten, the school's president, but one message, which Randone denies sending, included ``offensive content.''

Posted by kshaw at March 30, 2005 07:44 AM