By Anne Jungen
LaCrosse Tribune
November 1, 2011
http://lacrossetribune.com/blogs/annejungen/article_b2f345f8-ff0c-11e0-a4b3-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1cNmRW6sn
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| The Rev. Patrick Umberger |
The state Department of Justice said today it finished its investigation into a Diocese of La Crosse priest who resigned from his parish after being charged with child pornography.
Great news, especially since the Rev. Patrick Umberger died in December of liver cancer.
The Tribune has been after reports from the DOJ since the onset of the case. Our requests were repeatedly denied because the matter was under investigation.
We continued to check on the request from time to time and always received a polite note from DOJ with the same response. Then today, the DOJ responded with this e-mail:
"Because the Umberger matter was closely tied with some other investigations that remained open up until recently, we were not able to provide those records without potentially jeopardizing the other matters. With the related investigations now closed, we have put your request onto our active response list."
Other investigations? This should be interesting.
The department continued that other requests have priority, but the Umberger records are being reviewed for release and should be available "soon." We'll eagerly await their arrival.
In case you forgot, Umberger was a priest at St. Patrick's Catholic Parish in Onalaska when state agents said they discovered three sexually graphic pictures of nearly nude children on his computer.
Umberger, who also taught at St. Patrick School and was chaplain at Aquinas Middle School, was arrested almost one year after a family and two Wisconsin Dells Noah's Ark Water Park employees said they saw Umberger follow several young boys into a bathroom by a children's pool area July 22, 2009, according to a police report.
La Crosse County prosecutors charged Umberger with possession of child pornography, though the felony was dismissed after his death.
Contact: ajungen@lacrossetribune.com
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