BishopAccountability.org
	Ex-associate Pastor in Falls Faces Sex-abuse Investigation By Colette M. Jenkins Beacon Journal Jul 9, 2008 http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/24163014.html Westlake man alleges he was abused as a teenager while living in Elyria. Priest resigned post in June Elyria police expect that they will need about three weeks to complete the investigation of a former associate pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cuyahoga Falls accused of abusing a former Lorain County teen. "I do believe, once the investigation is complete, that the information will be presented to the grand jury," said Elyria Police Lt. Andrew Eichenlaub. Police began investigating an allegation of sex abuse against Patrick O'Connor, who resigned from the priesthood on June 6. His resignation came two days after the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland received a report of sexual abuse from a 27-year-old Westlake man. The diocese placed O'Connor on administrative leave the same day it received the report and contacted the Lorain County prosecutor. The man alleges that he was abused by O'Connor in 1997 when he was a teen living in Elyria, Eichenlaub said. At that time, O'Connor was an associate pastor at St. Jude in Elyria. O'Connor, 50, also served as a chaplain for the Elyria Police Department until 2003, when another allegation of sex abuse was reported by a man who claimed O'Connor had abused him in the late 1980s while an associate pastor at St. Joseph in Cuyahoga Falls. In that case, O'Connor was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by a diocesan review board. At the time of his suspension, he taught religious studies at Borromeo Seminary in Wickliffe. Last fall, the review board cleared O'Connor and determined that he could return to priestly ministry. However, the diocese restricted his access to children by assigning him to the chaplaincy posts because of concerns about public perception, according to Robert Tayek, diocesan spokesman. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith also reviewed the case and concluded that O'Connor was free to exercise priestly ministry. No criminal charges were filed against O'Connor related to the Summit County allegation. "At the time of reinstatement, the diocese determined that given society's sensitivities regarding the placement of a returning cleric to public ministry following such an allegation, it was appropriate, with regard to those sensitivities, to gradually return Fr. O'Connor to ministry and at that time restrict his access to children," the diocese said in a prepared statement. O'Connor's reinstatement was the first in the diocese since the U.S. Catholic bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy on abuse in 2002. Diocesan records show that 21 priests have been placed on leave amid allegations of sexual abuse since the spring of 2002. Some of the clerics have died; others have been placed in restrictive ministry. To date, 11 priests remain on administrative leave, awaiting decisions on the allegations against them. Tayek said that when the Elyria allegation surfaced last month, it was immediately reported to the Lorain County prosecutor and the Elyria police. Police asked the diocese not to announce O'Connor's suspension or resignation until the investigation was complete. The county prosecutor approved disclosure of his resignation on the diocese Web site (http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org), Tayek said. No details of either allegation against O'Connor were released. Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.