POCATELLO (ID)
KPVI 6 NBC
June 5, 2020
By Seth Klamann
https://www.kpvi.com/news/regional_news/criminal-investigation-into-wyoming-clergy-sexual-abuse-drags-into-third-year/article_9e2d0bde-3e3a-511d-bd08-75b23a10782e.html
The criminal investigation into sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Wyoming passed its second birthday in April, a prolonged process with no end in sight that has “shattered” an alleged victim’s family’s belief in the criminal justice system.
In August, Cheyenne police recommended that retired bishop Joseph Hart, the highest-ranking member of the Catholic church in Wyoming for 25 years, be charged with sexual abuse. The investigation and the documents detailing the allegations were then turned over to Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen, who will serve as special prosecutor should charges be filed because of a conflict of interest in the prosecutor’s office in Cheyenne.
But nothing has happened since. Itzen has repeatedly declined to comment. Cheyenne police said late last year that Itzen had passed the investigation back to them for some further work, but a police spokesman told the Star-Tribune that Itzen now has the case back.
“We thought things would’ve moved by now,” then-Cheyenne police spokesman Kevin Malatesta said in November.
“I honestly have no answer for you,” current spokesman David Inman said when asked why nothing had happened with the investigation. “The case is in (prosecutors’) hands now. You can try to have their D.A. contact me if you’d like, but there is no answer I or detectives can give you as to why it is being held up.”
Messages sent to Itzen this week were not returned.
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