LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Arkansas Democrat
May 17, 2019
By Youssef Rddad, Kat Stromquist
A former Arkansas priest is accused of molesting at least one boy in the 1980s while serving as dean of a Catholic school in Subiaco, with accusations coming to light through court records filed this week in Texas alleging abuse by clergy members.
Authorities say the Rev. Jeremy Myers sexually assaulted a boy several times in Arkansas and Texas while he was dean of the students’ dorm at Subiaco Academy, according to an affidavit supporting a search warrant. The document states the abuse started in 1986 at the all-boys school in Logan County — two years after Myers’ ordination as a priest — and continued when the boy visited the priest in Texas.
None of the church members in the document was criminally charged, but the filing explicitly describes allegations of sexual misconduct.
Myers is one of five clergy members under investigation as part of an investigation into alleged abuse within the Dallas Diocese. Police on Wednesday searched the church’s offices and storage buildings in the Dallas metro area, and church officials have said they are cooperating with the investigations.
The document alleges numerous instances in which Myers performed sex acts with the boy in Subiaco and then later in Texas.
Subiaco Academy headmaster David Wright said in a statement Thursday that the school and Subiaco Abbey “are aware of, and have cooperated with, the investigation of Jeremy Myers. Because this investigation is ongoing, and to avoid any possible interference with it, we cannot comment further at this time.”
Wright encouraged staff members and students to report any abuse, and said the school and abbey have “a duty to work to bring the truth to light.”
Subiaco Abbot Leonard Wangler, who was headmaster at Subiaco Academy at the time, reportedly told Myers to speak to his alleged victim about the claims when they surfaced, an affidavit said.
Students at the school reported concerns about Myers’ relationship with the boy after a witness saw the boy sitting on the priest’s lap wearing only a towel, records show.
Myers reported back to Wangler that the victim said he was lying about any sexual contact, according to the document.
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