TULSA (OK)
Tulsa World
August 2, 2019
A Tulsa Catholic diocese investigation on Friday determined that sexual misconduct allegations against a local priest date back more than two decades.
The allegations of misconduct against Father Joe Townsend, a priest of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, stem from his time as an associate pastor at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Tulsa from 1988 to 1991, according to a news release. Townsend was ordained in May 1988.
Townsend was placed on administrative leave in early July after the “non-frivolous allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor” was made, the news release said. Church officials said they have engaged a “third-party investigation” into the allegation.
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