Walter Fisher Was Sentenced to Treatment and Four Years of Probation
By Dana Willhoit
The Ledger
August 8, 2007
http://www.theledger.com/article/20070808/NEWS/708080442/1004
Bartow — A former Lakeland Catholic priest pleaded guilty Tuesday to burglary, false imprisonment, battery and aggravated stalking charges.
Walter Fisher, 51, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Neil Roddenbery to four years probation and ordered to undergo treatment and counseling.
Fisher had been jailed since 2005 after he was accused of stalking and attacking a woman in 2004.
 |
| Walter Fisher |
As part of his sentence, Fisher, who is also known as Wladyslaw Gorak, was ordered to surrender his passport, remain in the United States and have no contact with the woman who was the victim in the case.
The woman, Bozena Zelisko, told Lakeland police investigators she had known Fisher for several years, having met him in their homeland of Poland and becoming reacquainted when she moved to New Jersey and he was a priest at her church.
When she moved to Florida in 2004, Fisher became a priest at the church she attended, Church of the Resurrection in Lakeland.
She began to feel uncomfortable as Fisher made frequent uninvited visits to her home and she stopped answering the door, reports state.
On Oct. 12, 2004, Zelisko said Fisher forced his way into her home by breaking the chain lock on her door and pulled the telephone from the jack, police reports stated.
He started removing his clothes, held her tightly, ripped her skirt and blouse off, and forced her to the floor, the report said.
She fought back and after managing to free herself, grabbed her skirt, ran outside and hid until Fisher left, the report stated.
Zelisko has since returned to Poland.
Fisher was the assistant pastor at Church of the Resurrection from February to December 2004.
Dana Willhoit can be reached at dana.willhoit@theledger.com or 863-533-9079.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.