SAGINAW (MI)
MLive via The Morning Sun
March 22, 2018
Police raided two Catholic Diocese of Saginaw properties and the home of Bishop Joseph Cistone on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into sexual abuse in the church.
Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Gaertner said he cannot say what officers were searching for and what they took from the properties, but confirmed the search warrants executed Thursday are related to a lack of cooperation by the diocese which includes Clare, Gratiot and Isabella counties, as reported by MLive/Saginaw News.
“Contrary to the statements of the diocese and the bishop that they would fully cooperate with law enforcement, they did not,” Gaertner said. “Therefore it was necessary for law enforcement to use other investigative tools, including search warrants.”
Search warrants were executed at the bishop’s home on Corral Drive in Saginaw, the rectory at Cathedral Of Mary Of The Assumption, 615 Hoyt, in Saginaw, and the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw offices in Saginaw Township, according to Gaertner.
To date, only one diocese priest, Rev. Robert DeLand, has been criminally charged. He was accused of sexually assaulting two males — a 21-year-old and a 17-year-old — in his Saginaw Township condominium.
Since DeLand’s Feb. 26 arrest, numerous tips and allegations about further sexual abuse dating back as far as three decades have flooded area police departments, investigators previously said. Among the tips were allegations against other clergymen.
Another diocese priest, Rev. Ronald J. Dombrowski, was recently suspended by the diocese after it received a report he allegedly sexually assaulted a person when they were a minor. He has not been criminally charged.
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