November 17, 2005

Providence Diocese suspends priest accused of molesting teenager

PROVIDENCE (RI)
ABC 6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) November 17,2005

The Diocese of Providence has withdrawn a priest accused of molesting a Maryland teenager from his duties at a Rhode Island parish.

The diocese says it withdrew the accused priest, Aaron Joseph Cote, from Saint Pius the Fifth Parish in Providence yesterday after learning that a lawsuit had been filed in a Washington D-C court accusing Cote of child sexual abuse.

The lawsuit was filed by Brandon Rains, an 18-year-old who has accused Cote of sexually molesting him in 2001 and 2002 while Cote was serving at Mother Seton Parish in Germantown, Maryland.

Posted by kshaw at November 17, 2005 08:30 AM