KENTUCKY
Cincinnati Enquirer
By Cindy Schroeder
Enquirer staff writer
The central figure in one of the region's major priest sex-abuse cases is dying of cancer.
Earl Bierman, the 73-year-old former Northern Kentucky priest convicted of repeatedly molesting six adolescent boys in the 1960s and 70s, has less than a year to live, said James O'Keefe, executive director of the Kentucky Parole Board.
Because of that, officials at the state Department of Corrections have asked the board to consider whether Bierman should be released early from his 20-year prison sentence. With time off for good behavior and other credits, Bierman's sentence is to end next March.
"The parole board received a request from the Department of Corrections to consider an early medical parole because (Bierman's) doctor has indicated that he has less than a year to live,'' O'Keefe said. "It's cancer, essentially.''
Posted by kshaw at June 3, 2005 07:57 AM