MICHIGAN
WZZM
[with video]
Phil Dawson, WZZM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) — Retired Grand Rapids Roman Catholic priest Father Charles Antekeier may no longer call himself a priest. After investigating allegations of sexual abuse, the Vatican says Antekeier, is officially removed from the ministry.
The Grand Rapids Diocese says the accusation dates back to the mid 1980’s.
But at least one Grand Rapids parent says he believes his son was molested by Father Antekeier years earlier in the 1970’s when he was an altar boy at St. James Parish.
“He had been assigned to an early mass so there is nobody around, nobody in the sacristy,” says his father, who we are not naming to conceal the identity of his son. “He was raped several times.”
His father says the sexual assault changed the boy.
“The experience overwhelmed him,” he explains. “He thought the priest was the line to God.”
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