MILWAUKEE (WI)
Peoria Journal Star
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
MILWAUKEE - A former Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a teenage altar boy during trips to Milwaukee in the early 1980s has pleaded guilty and faces sentencing June 3.
Francis Engels, 69, of Kewanee pleaded guilty Friday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to two counts of second-degree sexual assault. Engels, who in 1993 was removed from his ministry within the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, faces up to 10 years in prison.
Engels admitted assaulting the boy, who is now 37, but doesn't recall the incidents alleged to have happened during trips to Milwaukee in 1982 and 1983.
Engels served as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Annawan before stepping down in 1993 amid allegations of sexual molestation from several former parishioners. He also had responsibility for St. Mary's Mission in Hooppole.
Posted by kshaw at April 20, 2005 08:05 AM