Salina Priest Pleads to Lesser Charge

By Doug Weller
The Register
August 14, 2012

http://salinadiocese.org/the-register/2229-salina-priest-pleads-to-lesser-charge

Father Allen Scheer pleaded no contest Aug. 10 to a lesser charge of misdemeanor battery and was placed on six months probation.

Father Scheer, 50, was charged April 18 with a misdemeanor count of sexual battery involving inappropriate sexual contact with an adult man in Salina. He pleaded not guilty April 20 in Saline County District Court and requested a jury trial, which was set for Aug. 15.

Bishop Edward Weisenburger, in a statement released Aug. 10, said, “It grieves me to learn that Father Scheer may have undertaken an activity that was illegal as well as inconsistent with our faith. However, I appreciate his acceptance of responsibility.

“It is my hope that the Church can be a source of healing for anyone who may have been harmed by this incident. Father Scheer will be provided emotional and spiritual assistance. Father Scheer’s possible return to ministry will be determined in time following evaluation by health-care professionals and diocesan leadership,” the statement said.

Father Scheer was the former rector at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina. He was placed on administrative leave after he was charged in April.

In his statement, Bishop Weisenburger asked for prayers for Father Scheer.

“Without minimizing the importance of the issues, it is significant to recall that our Church found its origins among men who each, in his own way, betrayed the Lord. And yet, with repentance and God’s grace, we sinners continue to be made into saints,” he wrote. “In that spirit, I ask the prayers of all that this act of justice may be balanced with forgiveness, healing and renewal.”