NEW YORK
New York Daily News
Father George Koharchik made Shaun Dougherty feel special.
The Roman Catholic priest let the boy sit on his lap and steer his car as they drove through the streets of Johnstown, Pa., where Koharchik was the pastor at St. Clement Church.
He took Dougherty to ballgames and treated him to meals at fast-food restaurants. He played soccer and racquet ball with the boy, a red-headed 10-year-old with a splash of freckles across his face when he met Koharchik in 1980.
Dougherty, now a 46-year-old Queens restaurateur, says Koharchik “groomed” him — methodically gained his trust and broke down his defenses — before he sexually abused him for three years.
Koharchik was one of at least 50 clergy members who abused hundreds of children in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown during a 40-year period, according to a horrific grand jury report released by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office in March. Police and prosecutors, the report says, worked with Church leaders to cover up the abuse and protect the predators.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.