JASPER (IN)
WAVE 3
Sep 24, 2005, 12:23 PM EDT
(JASPER, Ind.) -- A suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting a mentally disabled 19-year-old man told police the contact was consensual, according to court records obtained before a judge issued a gag order in the case.
The Rev. Wilfred L. Englert, 52, an associate pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Jasper, faces felony charges of deviant sexual conduct and two counts of sexual battery in Orange County and two sexual battery counts in Dubois County.
Dubois Circuit Court Judge William Weikert imposed a gag order Friday that prohibits attorneys, investigators and court employees form discussing or releasing records in the case.
The order was requested by Englert's attorney, John Goodridge, who also is seeking a change of venue in the case because of news coverage in the area. Goodridge also filed similar motions in Orange County, where a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 3.