PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice
BY JOSEPH KOHUT (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 21, 2013
A priest charged with having sex with a 15-year-old boy was reassigned 15 times by the Diocese of Scranton over a 25-year ministry that grew out of a career counseling troubled youths.
The Rev. William Paulish, 56, of Blakely, was appointed as a primary therapist at Lourdesmont, a facility for troubled teen-aged boys and girls in December 1983.
The Rev. Paulish was caught by Penn State Worthington Scranton security in his red 2009 Toyota Venza with a 15-year-old Thursday night. The boy did not have pants on and both later admitted to performing sex acts, police said.
The Rev. Paulish was ordained in the Diocese of Scranton in 1988. His first assignment was as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Snows in Clarks Summit from Sept. 9, 1988 to June 19, 1991. Previously, he worked at Lourdesmont and at a guidance clinic in Massachusetts. Phone messages to Lourdesmont were not returned.
As a priest, he had five reassignments in his first 5½ years, ending up as chaplain at Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre from Jan. 24, 1994 until July 4, 2000, the most stable period of his career, according to information provided by the diocese.
Over the next 13 years the Rev. Paulish was moved another nine times.
He spent two years and one month on three separate leaves of absence. Two were accounted for by the diocese as health-related. The reason for the other was not specified.
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