By Kacie Breeding
The Times-News
July 12, 2011
http://www.timesnews.net/article/9033785/alleged-victim-in-sex-abuse-trial-of-former-kingsport-priest-testifies
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| Warren Tucker, now 46, described being left in William Casey's (inset) care. |
A man who has accused a former Kingsport priest of sexually abusing him more than 30 years ago while he was head priest at St. Dominic's Catholic Church in Kingsport gave graphic testimony about the alleged acts Tuesday morning in Blountville.
William Casey, 78, 740 Shakerag Road, Greeneville, is being tried on first-degree sexual misconduct and two counts of aggravated rape in Sullivan County Criminal Court this week.
Warren Tucker, now 46, described either seeing Casey or being left in his care "almost daily" because his divorced mother worked seven days a week and attended nursing school. Tucker, an only child, said he had considered Casey a father figure, and his mother allowed Casey to take him on several overnight trips, during which he and Casey slept in the same bed. He said Casey told him he was "special" and that they had a "special love together."
He testified that he recalled being 13 when Casey offered to show him his living quarters in the basement of the church rectory.
"I thought it was pretty cool because nobody got to go down there, that was off limits to the public," Tucker said.
Tucker said Casey locked the front door and the basement access door to the rectory when they were inside. When they reached the bedroom, Casey put an arm around him, and led him to his bed. There, Tucker alleged Casey undressed him from the waist, then fondled and sexually penetrated him. Afterward, Tucker said he went into the bathroom for awhile, and when he came out, they got in the car and Casey drove him home.
"I was numbed, stunned," Tucker said, adding that he felt, "like a zombie."
Tucker said Casey told him, "My mother would be hurt," if he told anyone what had taken place, and that no one would believe him.
Tucker said he recalled the next incident happened when he was 14, with Casey allegedly luring him back down to his living quarters with the promise of a gift for his upcoming birthday - a silver coin medallion. Again, he found himself locked inside the rectory with Casey, who then allegedly undressed, fondled and sexually penetrated him.
Tucker said the third incident occurred when Casey came to his mother's trailer in a trailer park on John B. Dennis Highway that no longer exists. He said he was home alone, and that Casey told him his mother had asked him to come and speak to him about his recent "unruly" behavior.
Tucker said their conversation began on the couch, but that they wound up in the floor, where he alleged Casey performed oral sex on him, and he "felt obligated" to reciprocate.
Each time, Tucker said he had no desire to have sex with Casey, but felt powerless to resist a man he believed then to be "representative of God on earth."
Tucker said he "buried" the memories of the alleged abuse "deep inside," until he confided in his third wife about a decade ago. His wife, from whom he said his divorce will become final this month, told him to tell his mother. When he did that some years later, she told him to seek the counsel of a priest, which he said "devastated him." Next, he said he told his father, who basically told him to forget it and move on.
More recently, Tucker said he had watched an HBO documentary about boys who had been sexually abused by priests. A subsequent search online for help led him to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The late Ann Brentwood, whom he identified as the former southeast regional director of SNAP, encouraged him to go to law enforcement. As a result of his desire "to be counted," Tucker said he finally went to police.
On April 14, 2010, Tucker said he shared his allegations with Deacon Sean Smith at the Diocese of Knoxville. The next day, he met with a uniformed Kingsport Police Officer, who took an initial report. On April 28, 2010, Tucker said he met with KPD Detective Chris Tincher to give a formal statement.
Casey's attorney, Rick Spivey, questioned Tucker about a correction to his age at the time of one of the alleged offenses in Tincher's documentation of that statement. Tucker testified that Tincher had written that he said he was 15, but there was an audio recording of the same interview, and he had clearly stated he was 14.
Spivey also questioned Tucker about an alleged prior statement that nothing had happened between him and Casey in his own home, contrary to his testimony about the incident at the trailer on John B. Dennis.
Tucker testified that he had recalled that incident after having given the earlier statement. "My memory's developed, it was a year's difference," he said.
At one point, Tucker described having written a document called "memories" and revising it as his recollections improved over the course of several therapy sessions.
Tuesday morning, prosecutors also introduced a recorded phone call Tucker placed to Casey in the presence of law enforcement in North Carolina in September of 2009.
Toward the end of the call, Tucker asks whether Casey and his mother were romantically involved, as he said she had led him to believe, "at the same time I was a kid and you and I were together."
Casey admits to feelings of "tenderness" for Tucker's mother, but denies they were anything but friends. At one point he tells Tucker, "I was faithful to you. I did love you. You were my friend."
Tucker tells Casey he had wondered, "why would he be with me and then with her." To which Casey responds, "You were the only one," telling Tucker that, "we were friends in a way that no one else could ever fill."
The phone call concludes with Tucker and Casey making plans to get together sometime, with Tucker saying he's not trying to get back together with Casey to, "do things like when I was a kid, you know, sexual things."
Casey appears to agree to with Tucker, telling him, "that's the boundary."
Tucker left the witness stand at approximately 4:30 p.m. and the judge recessed for the day. He advised the trial would resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday with testimony from the state's next witness.
Casey has already pleaded guilty to similar offenses committed against Tucker in McDowell County, N.C., and he has additional charges pending in Scott County, Va., which also involve Tucker.
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.
Casey was indicted on Aug. 31, 2010, and arrested the following month.
Tuesday morning, one of the jurors picked yesterday was excused for medical reasons.
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