BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese Decides Priest May Return As Pastor Orange County Register November 8, 2004 http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/sections/local/local/article_303666.php LAGUNA WOODS – The Rev. Richard Delahunty has been allowed to return to work as pastor of St. Nicholas Church after spending nearly a year on leave because of a decades-old child-abuse claim. Bishop Tod Brown of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange announced at evening Mass on Saturday that he was reinstating Delahunty. Brown did so, he said, after a review board determined the accusation was unfounded Delahunty had been on paid administrative leave since Dec. 26, shortly after a lawsuit containing the child-abuse allegation was filed. The suit is still pending. The allegations date back to around 1981. "I know this has been a painful time for Father Delahunty and for the parishioners of St. Nicholas Church," Brown told parishioners at evening Mass on Saturday. Delahunty, a priest since 1965, had served at Holy Spirit in Fountain Valley, Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach, St. Barbara in Santa Ana and St. Martin de Porres in Yorba Linda before moving to St. Nicholas in July 2003.
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