VIRGINIA
The Roanoke Times
By Laurence Hammack
981-3239
The Roanoke Times
Eleven years ago, a parishioner accused a Catholic priest of sexually abusing her in the confessional of their Covington church.
Earlier this year, Moran was leading another parish - and facing another allegation of sexual misconduct.
Although both cases involve adult victims and murky details, some say these incidents mirror the way the Roman Catholic church has handled priests who molested children, which sparked a national controversy.
David Clohessy of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a Chicago-based victims advocacy group, said Moran's case appears to fit the pattern: priests accused of sexual abuse being moved from one parish to another by a church unwilling to recognize the scandal's wide scope.
"I warned them, and now there's another victim," said the woman who accused Moran of assaulting her at the Covington parish. "If they had done what they promised to do, that person would not have been victimized."
In March, Moran was temporarily suspended from the ministry for sexual misconduct with an adult woman, said Steve Neill, spokesman for the Cath
olic Church's Diocese of Richmond. Moran could not be reached.