HOLBROOK (MA)
Holbrook Sun
Friday, June 10, 2005
A Roman Catholic priest who served at St. Joseph's Church from 1981 to 1990 and had been accused of sexually abusing a child has been cleared to return to the ministry.
This happened after a church review panel found that the allegation against the Rev. Robert Fichtner was unsubstantiated, the Archdiocese of Boston announced this week.
The Rev. Fichtner was placed on administrative leave in 2003 after the archdiocese received a complaint claiming that he sexually abused a child at St. Joseph's Church more than 20 years earlier.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the archdiocese said that the review board could not verify the allegation after "careful review of the information available" and lifted all of the restrictions on the Rev. Fichtner's exercise of public ministry.