CBS 2
July 9, 2009
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/abusive.priest.prison.2.1078363.html
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| Former priest Fred Leczynski is asking to be released from incarceration. He has been held beyond the completion of his sentence after being ruled a sexually violent person. |
A former priest who is behind bars for sexually abusing three boys has been granted a conditional release, CBS 2 has learned.
Fred Lenczynski was convicted in 2004 of molesting three boys at St. Isaac Jogues Church in Hinsdale. He later admitted that he molested as many as 30 boys in Naperville and Romeoville, as well as in California and Missouri, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Lenczynski was sentenced to 5 years in prison and served 2 1/2. But after completing his sentence, a jury in DuPage County ruled him a sexually violent person, the Tribune reported. Because of that ruling, he was never released, and he remains incarcerated at an Illinois Department of Human Services facility in downstate Rushville, the Tribune reported.
But two of his sisters say they will help him abide by the court's restrictions if he is let out of jail. His sister Donna Leczynski, of Wheaton, said he could live with her, the Tribune reported.
Leczynski's attorneys appeared before a DuPage County judge Thursday.
Critics of the church and the priest abuse scandal, including members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, plan to stage a protest Thursday outside the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton.
The group hoped the judge would rule that Leczynski should remain incarcerated. They hoped his sister would reconsider her offer to live with her, and they are calling on Roman Catholic Church officials to reach out and help Leczynski's victims.
SNAP points out that Leczynski is the first priest in Illinois who was declared a sexually violent predator. They said testimony at trial indicated that Leczynski had his victims dress in "revealing baby Jesus" costumes and gave them naked massages as part of a "research project."
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