OHIO
Dayton Daily News
By Tom Beyerlein
Dayton Daily News
For the second time in a month, the Vatican has announced the forced removal of a priest with Dayton-area ties who was credibly accused of child sexual abuse.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati said Wednesday that the Vatican approved what amounts to the forced resignation of Thomas Brunner, former pastor of Miami County's largest Catholic church, St. Patrick in Troy. The Vatican announced similar action against Lawrence Strittmatter this month.
In the 1980s, several women in the Cincinnati area accused Brunner of molesting them as minors, and he didn't deny it. Under the rules of the time, the archdiocese transferred him to another post after he underwent psychological tests and counseling. He came to Troy in 1995.
Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk suspended Brunner with pay from St. Patrick in September 2003 under the U.S. bishops' new zero-tolerance rule. He has not been permitted to serve as a priest.