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	Former Champaign County Priest Returns to Active Ministry Urbana Daily Citizen March 20, 2009 http://www.urbanacitizen.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=150663&TM=84251.06 Support group for victims of clergy abuse questions decision Citizen Staff Report After three years of administrative leave, the Rev. Clarence Heis, who last served in Champaign County, has returned to priestly ministry, according to a Thursday release from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Heis served as priest for St. Michael Catholic Church in Mechanicsburg and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in North Lewisburg for 12 years. Heis was placed on administrative leave by Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk after he was arrested in October 2005 at a park in Fairborn. He pleaded no contest to original charges of public indecency and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. The public indecency charge was reduced to disorderly conduct. According to a Daily Citizen article in May 2006, Heis was one of three people charged in a sex sting operation on Oct. 19, 2005, and was apprehended after fleeing park rangers on state Route 4 near Fairborn. According to the archdiocese release, Heis received counseling to address the issues related to this incident while on leave and was not allowed to present himself as a priest. "He has fulfilled the terms of his probation," the release states. "His psychologist has advised the archdiocese that it would be suitable for Fr. Heis to return to active ministry." "I am sorry for what happened," said Fr. Heis, in the release, "and I apologize to those I have hurt by my actions. I am grateful for the support I have received from my family and friends." Heis will reside in Cincinnati and celebrate the sacraments in the archdiocese as needed. Archbishop Pilarczyk reaffirmed that the church demands and that he expects priests of the Archdiocese to live in accord with the demands of celibate chastity. A support group for victims of clergy abuse issued this statement on Thursday evening: "We are saddened and puzzled to learn of Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk's latest decision. By allowing Fr. Clarence Heis to return to active ministry he places him in a position of trust and respect granted to members of the clergy," Christy Miller of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) stated via e-mail. "Heis forfeited this right when he was arrested for public indecency and resisting arrest in a public park. "While we hope therapy has helped Heis we feel it is incredibly reckless of Pilarczyk to return him to ministry." SNAP is the nation's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP has been in existence for 20 years and has more than 8,000 members across the country, including those who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers.
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