December 10, 2005

Former Florida priest convicted of child abuse gets new trial

LANSING (MI)
The Ledger

By DAVID EGGERT
Associated Press Writer
LANSING, Mich.
The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexual misconduct with a boy at a Detroit rectory, ruling the priest was deprived of an impartial jury.

The Rev. Edward Olszewski, 72, was convicted in 2002 of indecent liberties with an 11-year-old boy at St. Cecilia's in Detroit. His accuser said the misconduct took place in the early 1970s.

In an order released Friday, the high court agreed with Olszewski's argument that a woman who was molested as a young child should not have been allowed on the jury. Wayne County Circuit Judge Diane Hathaway had previously ruled that the juror acted fairly and based her decision on the evidence.

Olszewski was forced to step down from his Key Largo, Fla., parish in 2002. He still lives in Florida and is serving a three-year probation term, which is scheduled to end in January.

Posted by kshaw at December 10, 2005 07:23 AM