St. John's Priest Faces Assault Charge

By Ron Cassie
The Examiner
April 5, 2007

http://www.examiner.com/a-657618~St__John_s_priest_faces_assault_charge.html

Westminster (Map, News) - Baltimore County police are investigating a criminal complaint filed against a Carroll County priest following a confrontation Friday with the husband of the former director of admissions at Mount de Sales in Catonsville.

Police spokesman Bill Toohey said officers were called to the school Friday and an assault complaint was made Tuesday by [Name 1 Redacted] against priest Leo Patalinghug of St. John Catholic Church in Westminster.

A criminal summons will be served to Patalinghug with a date to appear in court, Toohey said.

In an interview Wednesday, [Name 1 Redacted] said Patalinghug grabbed him by the arm several times, bumped him in the chest and told him, "I could take off this collar, take you out back and you wouldn't know what hit you."

Patalinghug is a former third-degree black belt instructor in Tae Kwon Do and Arnis, the art of Filipino full-contact weapons fighting, according to Catholic conference literature.

The accusation is the latest eruption in an ongoing controversy that has shaken the Mount de Sales community and St. Agnes parish this school year.

In mid-September, [Name 1 Redacted]'s estranged wife, [Name 2 Redacted] , was fired from her position as director of admissions at Mount de Sales after allegedly having an affair with the school's now former chaplain and religious instructor, Rev. Tim Fell. The school denies [Name 2 Redacted] was removed because of the alleged affair, but it subsequently became part of her husband's divorce suit.

Fell remained at Mount de Sales until a second married woman came forth to the Archdiocese of Baltimore with similar allegations of a previous affair with Fell. The Archdiocese has said they consider both allegations credible.

Fell remains in his position as associate pastor at St. Agnes.

Patalinghug, a friend of Fell's who was ordained the same year, was invited by the school to serve Mass at a spiritual retreat Friday for teenage girls, including [Name 1 Redacted]'s daughter. In his sermon, according to accounts, Patalinghug made thinly veiled references chastising [Name 2 Redacted] and defending Fell.

Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese, said Patalinghug's homily was titled "Challenges in Life," and noted that the Archdiocese "understands some people were offended by it."

[Name 1 Redacted]'s daughter, upset during the sermon, called her father in tears, precipitating the incident. [Name 1 Redacted], taped much of the incident on a audio recorder he brought with him and can be heard confronting Patalinghug and repeatedly asking the priest to take his hands off him.

In a brief phone interview Wednesday, Patalinghug denied putting his hands on [Name 1 Redacted] before referring all other questions to Caine.

E-mail: rcassie@baltimoreexaminer.com