Onetime Lansdale priest admits to indecent assault at local YMCA

By Carl Hessler Jr
Mercury
January 28, 2015

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20150128/onetime-lansdale-priest-admits-to-indecent-assault-at-local-ymca

norristown >> A onetime Lansdale priest will be under court supervision after he admitted to having indecent contact with a man in a local YMCA locker area.

John H. Roebuck, 65, of the first block of Lansdale Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to two years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault without consent in connection with the December 2013 incident that occurred at the YMCA on East Main Street in Lansdale.

“Basically, he admitted to inappropriately touching another patron outside the locker room area at the Lansdale YMCA. He violated another person right out in the open. It really shocked the victim,” Assistant District Attorney Jordan Friter, who leads the district attorney’s sex crimes prosecution division, said on Wednesday.

“He’ll be supervised by the sex offender unit of the probation department. They’ll do their own evaluation and then they determine what kind of counseling and treatment he’ll undergo,” Friter added.

Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, said Roebuck will be evaluated for alcohol abuse and she ordered Roebuck to follow all recommendations for treatment. The judge further ordered Roebuck to have no contact with the victim.

“He was extremely remorseful for the entire situation,” defense lawyer Sean Cullen said on Roebuck’s behalf. “He had undergone numerous psychosexual evaluations prior to going to court to indicate that the underlying basis of the charge was not necessarily sexual in nature but he did accept responsibility for those physical acts.

“He was in an extremely depressed state and suffering through alcohol abuse at the time,” Cullen claimed. “We understood the underlying situation was depression, alcohol abuse, loneliness, a feeling of isolation…and he was extremely lonely at the time. So it was more the act of a lonely and sick individual at that time, much less likely that it was sexual in nature.”

As a result of his admission of guilt, Roebuck will have to report his address to state police for at least 15 years to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. Roebuck also faces an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board, which will determine if he meets criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Those classified as predators have to report their addresses to state police for a lifetime.

“He has treated with psychologists, psychiatrists and had independent reviews, we already know that that’s not going to come back that way,” said Cullen, maintaining he is “confident” Roebuck will not be classified as a predator.

Roebuck was a parochial vicar at Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Lansdale until December 2013 when he was placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“He’s no longer an active priest in the Lansdale area of Montgomery County. That’s all I know at this time,” Cullen said.

An investigation began Dec. 16, 2013, after the victim, an adult male, reported a locker room incident that took place about 7 p.m. at the North Penn YMCA in the 600 block of East Main Street, the prior evening, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Lansdale police.

The man told police that while he was showering, another man who was later identified as Roebuck entered the showers and the man “felt as though Roebuck was staring at him and he felt uncomfortable,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Lansdale Police Officer Nicholas Oropeza.

The man put his bathing suit on, left the showers and went into a sauna, according to the criminal complaint. Roebuck then entered the sauna about a minute later and introduced himself to the man as “John,” according to the criminal complaint.

The two men shook hands, at which point Roebuck pulled the man close to him, causing them to “bump shoulders,” police said.

After exiting the sauna just before 7 p.m., the victim went to a sink outside the sauna and he noticed Roebuck standing several feet behind him, police said. The victim walked away from the sink area and told Roebuck, “See you later,” according to police.

At that point, Roebuck shook the man’s hand and again pulled the victim close to him, this time grabbing the man’s genitals with his other hand and asking, “Do you want to?” according to the criminal complaint. The victim said, “No,” and told Roebuck not to touch him. Roebuck then replied, “Since we are here alone, I thought maybe we could,” police alleged.

The victim again said, “No,” and immediately reported the incident to a YMCA employee at the front desk before leaving the facility. According to the arrest affidavit, the employee confronted Roebuck about the incident, but Roebuck “denied any improper conduct” with the victim.

The victim reported to police that he did not give consent for Roebuck to touch his genitals.

On Dec. 19, 2013, detectives interviewed Roebuck, and at that time he admitted that he was present at the YMCA on Dec. 15 and that he touched the victim’s genitals, according to the criminal complaint.

In the hours after Roebuck’s arrest, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued a statement that indicated the Archdiocese was “cooperating fully with the police investigation.”