OHIO
WTOV
BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio – A victim’s advocate group took its protest to the campus of Belmont College on Friday where defrocked priest Gary Zalenski recently worked as a member of the faculty.
While Zalenski hasn’t been teaching for a while, he has said would like to get back to it. Judy Jones and Steven Spaner are with the group “SNAP” — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “He’s on the faculty there, and we believe he should never be on a faculty at a college,” Jones said.
The recently defrocked catholic priest was once accused of sexually assaulting a young girl from his former church. A grand jury investigated the case and didn’t find enough evidence to file charges.
Jones and Spaner presented the school with a letter in hopes of getting answers. “If he’s too dangerous to be a priest at a parish, he is too dangerous to be on the faculty at Belmont College, and he needs to be fired,” Jones said.
Belmont College released this statement: “Mr. Zalenski is not currently teaching, nor is he on the payroll, at Belmont College. Prior to August of 2014, he contracted with us part-time on an as needed basis. There are no current plans to contract Mr. Zalenski in the future.” The statement is still not enough for SNAP.
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