By Deborah Gyapong
BC Catholic
April 29, 2011
http://bcc.rcav.org/canadian/679-deborah-gyapong
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| Last year, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast suspended Father William J. Allen from all ministry and prohibited him from representing himself as a priest after he was charged with indecent assault. The archbishop added that diocesan authorities will consider further action based on Canon Law. Photo Courtesy of CNS. |
An Ottawa priest convicted of indecent assault April 19 may face further disciplinary action from Church authorities.
Father William J. Allen, 81, pleaded not guilty but did not contest the statement of facts that were read in court. Helped into the courtroom in a wheelchair, the former St. Pius X high school teacher’s frail health has spared him a jail term. He was sentenced to a nine-month conditional sentence and 12 months probation.
“When Father Allen was criminally charged in July of last year, I suspended him from all ministry and prohibited him from representing himself as a Catholic priest,” Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast said in a statement.
He said that given Allen’s conviction, “that suspension and prohibition continue in force.”
Diocesan authorities will also consider further action “in light of Canon Law” and the Vatican’s procedural requirements that cases of abuse of minors be reported to the Holy See, the archbishop added.
“Our diocese is committed to creating a safe environment in the Church for minors and other vulnerable persons,” Archbishop Prendergast said. “We are also committed to a process of justice and reconciliation for the victims of clergy abuse.”
The indecent assaults took place between 1969 and 1977 and involved three teenaged brothers. The assaults took place when the former high school teacher would pin his victim with a wrestling move, then rub himself against the boy’s leg.
One of the victims, who was 16 when he was assaulted, read an impact statement in court.
“Perhaps one day, your Lord may forgive you,” he said. “I haven’t.”
He described the priest’s actions as “appalling depravity.”
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