WISCONSIN
NBC 15
Updated: 6:43 PM Aug 1, 2005
Zac Schultz
Janesville: Father Gerald Vosen looked on calmly, backed by a courtroom full of supporters bussed in from his former parishes in Reedsburg, Janesville and Baraboo.
"I really believe our presence here as a group is a very large prayer," says supporter Gretchen Roltgen.
Roltgen was the music director under Father Vosen for 9 years at St. Joseph's in Baraboo. "We firmly believe in Father Vosen's innocence. We believe that truth and justice need to be served."
Vosen was first accused of sexually abusing a child in September of 2003. Soon after, two other former alter boys came forward alleging abuse.
Vosen has been on administrative leave since then, and the Catholic Diocese is in the middle of a confidential internal investigation.
The man Father Vosen is suing brought his allegations to the Diocese of Madison. NBC 15 is not revealing his identity due to the unproven nature of the allegations. The defendant told the church that Father Vosen molested him from 1990 to 1992, when he was an alter boy in Janesville.