KENTUCKY
The Kentucky Post
By Kevin Eigelbach
Post staff reporter
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington has placed the pastor of two local churches on administrative leave because of an allegation of sexual abuse.
The Rev. Richard Frazier is pastor of St. Bernard in Dayton and Divine Mercy in Bellevue.
According to a letter Bishop Roger Foys published today in the diocesan newspaper, the Messenger, Frazier has denied having any sexual contact with minors either before or after his ordination. He did not return a message left Thursday evening at Divine Mercy.
Foys told the congregations last weekend that he had placed Frazier on administrative leave, diocesan spokesman Tim Fitzgerald said. The bishop did not provide any specifics of the alleged abuse, except to say that it would have happened in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The accusers, all of them adults now, have no connection with either of the parishes or their schools. They came forward as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the diocese pending in Boone Circuit Court.