Archdiocese Puts Farmington Hills Priest on Leave Amid Allegations of Sex with Minors

Deadline Detroit
October 8, 2012

http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/2160/archdiocese_puts_farmington_hills_priest_on_leave_amid_allegations_of_sex_with_minors


The Archdiocese of Detroit announced in a press release that it had placed senior Priest Loren O'Dea on administrative leave Friday and restricted him from public ministry while authorities investigate allegations of sexual abuse involving minors.

O'Dea, 83, retired in 1997 from Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Farmington and has been an associate pastor there since 1993, the year of his ordination. Fox2 reported that the allegations had been turned over to the Oakland County Sheriff's Department.

"The Detroit archdiocese, after consultation with the Archdiocesan Review Board, deemed substantive two allegations of sexual misconduct with minors involving Fr. O’Dea which date back just prior to his ordination," the archdiocese said in a press release. "Information about the allegations, which was received in recent weeks, was turned over to civil authorities."

"The Archdiocese of Detroit commissioned an investigation that found the complaints to be of sufficient substance to require the placement of restrictions on Fr. O’Dea prohibiting him from performing any public ministry or presenting himself as a priest."