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	Rudy Stands by Friend Accused of Abuse By Tom Brune The Newsday June 23, 2007 http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usrudy0623,0,3870383.story?track=rss Washington — Rudolph Giuliani will stand by his longtime friend Msgr. Alan Placa despite a new call by an advocacy group for priest-abuse victims to fire the suspended priest from his consulting firm, a Giuliani aide said Friday. The GOP presidential front-runner was urged to ax Placa by David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, after Salon Web-magazine ran a story Friday about the 5-year-old allegations of molesting students against Placa and his job at Giuliani Partners. But Giuliani will not fire Placa, who is also an attorney, from his consulting job, said Giuliani Partners spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. "The mayor believes Alan Placa has been unjustly accused," she said. The Salon article follows a Newsday story in February about how Giuliani's presidential bid could face fallout from his controversial friends and associates, including Placa. But the immediate political ramifications of new reports of Giuliani's defense of a suspended priest who has become a polarizing figure on Long Island are difficult to gauge. In 2002, after Newsday reported accusatons he had molested students decades earlier, the Diocese of Rockville Centre placed Placa on administrative leave. In 2003, a Suffolk County grand jury report cited the accusations by three of his former students and found Placa used his position as diocese vice chancellor to stifle other priest-abuse complaints. Placa, who insists he is innocent, faced no criminal charges. Contact: tom.brune@newsday.com
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