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	LA Crosse Priest Awaiting Trial Dies By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel Milwaukee Journal Sentinel December 2, 2010 http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/111200939.html A La Crosse Catholic priest awaiting trial on child pornography charges has died. Father Patrick Umberger, 60, who resigned in July as pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Onalaska, died Tuesday of complications related to cancer, according to his attorney. The Diocese of La Crosse, where former Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishop William Callahan now presides, issued a statement asking the faithful to be "merciful in their judgments" of Umberger and "remember his many good deeds." It said the diocese has yet to see any evidence of criminal activity by Umberger. "It is unfortunate that Father Umberger was denied, by death, his day in court," it said. Umberger was charged in July with possession of child pornography after allegedly sexually explicit images were found on his computer system. Authorities began investigating Umberger a year earlier after he was ejected from a Wisconsin Dells water park on accusations of following boys repeatedly into the men's room. Umberger told authorities and the diocese at the time that it was entering the bathroom repeatedly because of a prostate problem, and the diocese took no action against him. Victims advocates had pointed to the case as one of two indicating the lax handling of clergy sex abuse allegations by Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki when he was bishop of La Crosse. The priest in the other case was found not guilty at trial. Before moving to the La Crosse Diocese, Umberger had served as a deacon at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in West Allis and as an associate pastor at St. Mary Catholic Parish in Burlington, and he taught high school at St. Mary's.
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