WORCESTER (MA)
Hindustan Times
Associated Press
Worcester, Massachusetts, November 2, 2005
A Roman Catholic priest arrested in Las Vegas last year for allegedly performing a lewd act on another man inside an adult bookstore was removed from his post as pastor of a parish after an advocacy group posted the arrest report online.
The Rev. James Aquino has been relieved of his duties at Our Lady of Loreto parish, where he'd been pastor since 1986, Bishop Robert McManus told parishioners Sunday.
McManus, who called the situation "a grave scandal," had known of Aquino's October 2004 arrest for several months. But the bishop had allowed him to remain in his post because Aquino denied the charges and McManus believed he might have been arrested due to a misunderstanding.
Just last week, Aquino, 66, took to the pulpit to publicly deny the charges, telling parishioners he had just entered the Adult Super Store, which sells sexually explicit books, magazines and videos, when police swooped in.