BishopAccountability.org
	Decision on Former Kingsport Priest's Rape Case Delayed By Kacie Breeding The Times-News March 21, 2011 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9030698 BLOUNTVILLE — A former Kingsport priest facing rape and sexual misconduct charges in Sullivan County will learn Friday whether the case against him will be dismissed. William "Bill" Casey, 76, 740 Shakerag Road, Greeneville, is charged with first-degree sexual misconduct and two counts of aggravated rape. The charges stem from allegations that he sexually abused a boy shortly after becoming priest of St. Dominic's Catholic Church in Kingsport in the 1970s. The alleged victim, Warren Tucker, 45, testified Monday that he was an altar boy at St. Dominic's when the abuse began. His mother was involved in a relationship with Casey at the time, he said. Sullivan County Criminal Court Judge Robert Montgomery was expected to decide whether Casey's charges should be dismissed at the conclusion of a hearing Monday. However, after the hearing stretched past 5:30 p.m., Montgomery advised he would announce his decision Friday morning. The hearing centered on the passage of nearly three decades between the earliest alleged offense and when Tucker reported his allegations to Kingsport police in April 2010. At an earlier date, Montgomery advised both sides he would be looking at the length of the delay, the reasons for it, and the degree of prejudice, if any, it caused to the defendant. Defense attorneys Rick and Matthew Spivey argued that the passage of 30 years' time constituted a pre-accusatorial delay that has violated Casey's constitutional right of due process. They called no witnesses. The indictments allege the earliest offense occurred between May 22, 1978, and May 20, 1979. The second and third offenses are alleged to have happened at different times in different locations between March 1 and April 15, 1980. Tucker reported his allegations to the Kingsport Police Department in April 2010. Sullivan County Deputy District Attorney Barry Staubus and Assistant District Attorney Julie Canter argued that the period of the delay is a common one. Because Casey allegedly admitted to fellow clergy members that he sexually penetrated Tucker, they also contended that the delay failed to cause undue prejudice. Sue Frazier-Bear, a licensed therapist who counsels victims of child sexual abuse at the Sullivan County Children's Advocacy Center, testified for the state. She said research has consistently shown that 60 percent to 70 percent of child sexual abuse victims either never tell anyone, or wait until adulthood to do so. Studies have shown that women typically put it off until they are approximately 45 years of age, while the typical reporting age for men is 42 to 44, she said. Frazier-Bear also testified about some of the typical effects of child sexual abuse by clergy on victims' lives, including that victims typically grow to distrust authority figures, fail at close relationships, and turn to drugs, alcohol and criminal behavior. According to Tucker's testimony, he left his mother's home and went to live with his father in Louisville, Ky., after a five-day stint in jail for delinquent behavior. As an adult, he admitted that he turned to drugs and alcohol in an attempt to bury his childhood memories. The reasons Tucker gave for not coming forward when the alleged abuse first occurred included that Casey told him his mother would be "hurt" if he told her about their "special" relationship, and he told him not to tell his schoolmates either, saying they "wouldn't understand" it. Tucker said he worried that he would not be believed and feared that he would be ridiculed. As a child of a staunchly Catholic family, Tucker said he had believed that Casey represented "God on earth." Tucker said the first person he ever told about the alleged abuse was his third wife, to whom he confided in 1999. She told him to talk to his mother, which he did during a 2001 visit. She told him to consult a priest, "leave it to God" or get counseling elsewhere. In May 2009, Tucker said he told his father, who told him to "forget it and move on, get over it." The first person who encouraged him to go to the authorities was a representative of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Tucker said he went to authorities first in McDowell County, N.C., then Kingsport, then Scott County, Va., and Greene County, Tenn. In a statement included in Casey's court file, Tucker wrote that he is "angry" with himself because he did not come forward earlier. Near the end of that letter, he wrote that: "The predators that call themselves 'men of God' count on the silence of their victims. If you are a victim come forward and begin to heal." Casey has already pleaded guilty to similar offenses committed against Tucker in McDowell County, and he has additional charges pending in Scott County. By the time Tucker reported his allegations to authorities, Casey had retired from the Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville. He was subsequently suspended from the Catholic ministry pending completion of the laicization process.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.