BishopAccountability.org
	New Trial Slated for Ex-area Priest By Bronislaus B. Kush Telegram & Gazette February 18, 2009 http://www.telegram.com/article/20090218/NEWS/902180359/1003/NEWS03 Sex abuse conviction overturned WORCESTER — The Rev. Thomas H. Teczar, a Roman Catholic priest formerly from Worcester, faces a second trial in Texas on charges that he sexually assaulted an 11-year-old boy in 1990. Rev. Teczar was found guilty by a Texas district judge in 2007 of three counts of aggravated assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child, and was given a 25-year prison sentence. However, the Court of Appeals for the 11th District in Eastland County threw out the conviction last October on the grounds that the district judge had committed errors during the court proceedings. A new trial has been set for March 23. Texas officials said Rev. Teczar is free after posting a $30,000 bond earlier this month. They said he is required to wear an electronic monitoring device. The priest is reportedly living with his brother in Arlington, Texas. “Our hearts ache for these brave, wounded victims who will likely feel betrayed again at the news that Teczar is out of prison because of a legal technicality,” said Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, in a statement released yesterday. Rev. Teczar moved to Texas in the 1980s after Worcester Bishop Timothy J. Harrington barred him from clerical duties when allegations surfaced that he had molested at least two boys in Central Massachusetts. He was arrested in Ranger, Texas, for abusing the 11-year-old, who lived across the street from the parish to which the priest was assigned. The Vatican has been asked by church authorities in Worcester and Texas to “laicize” Rev. Teczar, which would officially strip him of all priestly privileges and functions. Contact: bkush@telegram.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.