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	Former Priest Convicted of Abuse, Sentenced to 25 Years Associated Press, carried in Fort Worth Star-Telegram March 7, 2007 http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/16855007.htm Eastland, Texas — A former priest was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison after being convicted of the aggravated sexual assault of an 11-year-old boy in the early 1990s. The Rev. Thomas Teczar, 65, of Dudley, Mass., was a priest in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese until his departure in 1993. He served in several parishes, including Ranger, where the victim was abused. Teczar was convicted on three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child. He was sentenced to 25 years for each assault charge and 15 for the indecency charge; all sentences will run concurrently, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its online edition Wednesday. The victim, now in his late 20s, testified earlier Wednesday that Teczar used threats, persuasion and the use of his Mercedes to entice a then-11-year-old boy to have sex and keep it a secret. Teczar told him he could have him taken away from his mother, the man testified before a state district judge. The man is not being identified because of the nature of the case. He testified Wednesday that he came forward in 2002 because he now has children. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them," he said. "I wanted to get him off the street and put him where he belongs." In 2005, the Fort Worth diocese settled for $4.15 million a lawsuit with two of Teczar's accusers, including one who filed the criminal complaint in Eastland. The former priest's brother, Edward Teczar, told the court Tuesday, "I know my brother. I know what he's capable of and what he's not capable of. I know he's been falsely accused of something he would never do. Ever." But a Texas Ranger testified Tuesday that Teczar is a child predator who used another man - who was later convicted of sexual assault - as a "forward scout" to gain access to potential victims. Teczar left the county, then the state, after refusing to testify before a grand jury about the investigation into his friends. Other witnesses in the trial testified that Teczar exposed his victim to alcohol, drugs and pornography.
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