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	Cancer Claims Life of Retired Priest Misconduct Allegations Dogged Aquino By Bronislaus B. Kush Telegram & Gazette June 21, 2007 http://www.telegram.com/article/20070621/NEWS/706210745&SearchID=73285279839489 Worcester— The Rev. James J. Aquino Jr., who stepped down as pastor of Our Lady of Loreto parish after being accused in 2004 by Las Vegas police of sexual misconduct, died Tuesday night in Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The Rev. Aquino, a former superintendent of the area's Catholic schools, had been suffering from cancer, according to officials with the Diocese of Worcester. He was 68. Bishop Robert J. McManus last year accepted Rev. Aquino's resignation from the pastorship after allegations that the priest had engaged in inappropriate behavior with an adult. Rev. Aquino, who had been living recently in Naples, Fla., was placed on administrative leave and removed from his duties as director of the Office of the Diaconate. He later retired. According to Las Vegas authorities, Rev. Aquino was issued a criminal citation on Oct. 21, 2004, by Las Vegas vice squad officers after he was allegedly seen engaging in sexual acts with a man inside an adult bookstore. Court records showed that Rev. Aquino later entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct. Rev. Aquino, the son of James J. Aquino Sr. and Josephine R. (Costa) Aquino, was ordained a priest on May 27, 1965, by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan. He graduated from St. Michael's College in Vermont in 1960 and studied theology at St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester, N.Y. Rev. Aquino received a doctorate in education from Boston College in 1979. He was a former teacher at Marian High School and St. Stephen's High School, and was a former headmaster at Sacred Heart Academy in Worcester and St. Mary's Central Catholic High School in Milford. A native of Worcester, he served as school superintendent for the diocese from 1980 to 1986. Besides Our Lady of Loreto, Rev. Aquino had served as a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Ann in Worcester and St. Anne's in Shrewsbury. Contact: bkush@telegram.com
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