FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post
By Joe Capozzi – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PALM BEACH GARDENS —
A day after a priest blasted the Palm Beach Diocese’s handling of a sexual abuse case, diocese officials struck back, calling Father John Gallagher a liar in need of professional assistance.
In an extraordinary public rebuttal, the normally reticent diocese blasted as “unfair and slanderous” Gallagher’s assertion that he had been demoted and locked out of his parish months after reporting a fellow priest’s sex crime.
“Father Gallagher is blatantly lying and is in need of professional assistance as well as our prayers and mercy,” the diocese said in a statement.
The statement reads in whole:
“The Diocese of Palm Beach is very disappointed in the actions of Father John Gallagher who, through a complete misrepresentation of the case of Father Jose Palimattom, has brought unfair and slanderous allegations against the Church and the Diocese of Palm Beach. Father Gallagher has acted in a similar manner in other situations in the past and has been given every opportunity for correction, including the possibility of professional assistance.
Father Gallagher has publicly stated that he contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office the evening the incident occurred. The sheriff’s report indicates that Father Gallagher was not the one who made the report. He also publicly stated that he contacted the Diocese the evening the incident occurred. The Diocese of Palm Beach did not receive any communication from him until the next day. Upon learning of the allegation, the Diocese of Palm Beach immediately contacted authorities and learned that the incident had already been reported to them by the boy’s family, not Father Gallagher.
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