ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle
Michael Zeigler
Staff writer
(November 23, 2005) — A judge reserved decision today on a request by a Roman Catholic priest to dismiss charges that he molested a 14-year-old boy at a Rochester church.
Rochester City Court Judge John E. Elliott said he'll decide Dec. 21 whether misdemeanor charges of third-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching should stand against the Rev. Dennis R. Sewar, 54.
Sewar, who is on sabbatical from St. John the Evangelist Church in Spencerport, is charged with molesting the boy from 1999 to 2001 when he was pastor of Church of the Annunciation on Norton Street.
The alleged victim, who is now 20, claimed Sewar touched his clothed genitals about 50 times while he and Sewar watched baseball on a big-screen television in Sewar's private quarters in the church rectory.