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	Former Priest Awaiting Trial Will Be Evaluated for Competency By Linda Trischitta and Tonya Alanez Orlando Sentinel November 8, 2010 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-doherty-competency-folo-20101108,0,7504560.story FORT LAUDERDALE - A retired priest who is facing sexual battery charges will be evaluated by a psychologist after officials say he violated the terms of his pretrial release numerous times. Neil Doherty, 67, of Lake Worth, was put back in jail last week while authorities determine his competency. He was arrested in 2006 and charged with sexual battery and other offenses after a man alleged that, while the man was a child in the 1990s, the former priest had molested, drugged and raped him over the course of seven years. Doherty had been free on bail and under house arrest, with electronic monitoring, while awaiting trial. But he left his home for at least 17 minutes last month, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. Doherty told authorities he was attending a funeral when the GPS monitor lost contact, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. During a hearing Monday, a pretrial release officer said that when Doherty was disconnected from his GPS tracking system last month, it was the eighth time. "Anybody else would be in jail," Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes said. "What concerns me are the violations in the past and the defendant's age. There may be something there." Holmes ordered forensic psychologist Dr. Michael Brannon to evaluate Doherty immediately, and will review those findings during a Nov. 10 hearing. "If he's competent, I'll feel comfortable setting some restrictions that are rather strict," Holmes said. Doherty retired from the priesthood in 2002 after serving at St. Vincent's Catholic Church in Margate. Staff writer Sofia Santana contributed to this report. Linda Trischitta can be reached at ltrischitta@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4233.
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