BishopAccountability.org
	Police: Former Pastor Describes Touching Girl Attorney Questions Validity of Statement By Rocco LaDuca Utice Observer Dispatch August 8, 2007 http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070808/NEWS/708080336/1001 Utica — A former pastor from Clinton told police he inappropriately touched a 7-year-old girl while trying to get her to fall asleep at his residence earlier this year, according to documents in Oneida County Court. The Rev. William Procanick, 53, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in County Court to charges of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. When Procanick gave a written statement to investigators in April, however, the former pastor of Resurrection Assembly of God in Clinton stated he was rubbing the girl "in a way that I shouldn't." "I realized that I had crossed the line," Procanick stated, according to his statement to Sgt. Denise Luker with the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center. According to Procanick's statement to police, the incident occurred while the girl and her sister were staying at his Kirkland Avenue residence because their mother's residence was without heat due to a flooded basement. Procanick's attorney, George Aney, however, would not discuss Tuesday how his client's statements to police should be interpreted. "I don't put any kind of any credence at all into any kind of statement that is not given voluntarily," Aney said. "And a statement that is taken by a law-enforcement officer from a person who is supposedly in custody cannot, under any circumstance, be considered voluntary." According to the statement, Procanick told the girl's mother the next day that, "I am guilty of sleeping next to your daughter." The mother did not respond at the time, but she instead said a few weeks later that Procanick had scared her daughter, he stated. "She was just yelling at me, asking me what I had done to her daughter," Procanick stated. When the girl's mother said the girl was having nightmares, Procanick stated that he apologized. Procanick told investigators that he chose to resign as the church's minister to protect other people from being subjected "to the liability of what I have done." He also stated that he called a toll-free number where ministers can call anonymously to talk to people about such incidents. "This is the first and only time that I have ever hurt a child," Procanick stated. "I don't have any idea why I did it. I just want to get some help, so I don't ever do this again." Procanick has yet to undergo any kind of counseling, his attorney said Tuesday. "After he talked to me and told me what happened, we didn't think that a need was there," Aney said. Procanick is free on $20,000 bail and will return to court on Aug. 24 to decide whether he will accept a plea offer. Contact: rladuca@utica.gannett.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.