KNOXVILLE (TN)
Knoxville News Sentinel [Knoxville TN]
May 17, 2024
By Tyler Whetstone
The Rev. Antony Devassey Punnackal has been cleared of sexual battery charges by a Sevier County jury and has settled a federal civil lawsuit filed by the woman who said he sexually assaulted her during a 2020 counseling session, but he will not be returning to ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville.
He is leaving the country, in fact.
Punnackal serves at the discretion of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, an international religious order that has requested he return to his native India, diocese spokesperson Jim Wogan said in an email to Knox News.
The religious order, in essence, loaned Punnackal to the diocese and now has requested he return after being cleared of his legal entanglements. Punnackal has been suspended since January 2022. Diocesan leaders learned May 10 of the request that he return to India, Wogan said.
What becomes of his ministry is now up to the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, including what to do about the lewd details that came out of the trial, such as the hundreds of pornographic images police found on Punnackal’s computer, details Knox News has not reported before. These details came to light during a hearing in a Sevier County courtroom in June.
The jury never heard about the pornography before acquitting Punnackal because the judge ruled it was prejudicial. Still, it worried diocesan leaders enough to alert the religious order.
“The diocese has made a genuine, honest and concerted effort to make his religious order aware of those issues and aware of the things that occurred in that hearing,” Wogan said.
Due to the details revealed in court, Punnackal might have not been allowed back in local ministry here anyway, but the decision was taken out of the diocese’s hands.
A representative from Carmelites of Mary Immaculate could not immediately be reached for comment.
Details not allowed into the court case
Sevier County Judge James Gass did not permit certain evidence to be provided to the jury, ruling in August it was prejudicial against Punnackal, but the sides discussed the details in open court during a June hearing, the records of which are public. The details of the hearing come from a court transcript obtained by Knox News.
Gatlinburg police detective Rodney Burns testified that a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation forensic analysis of Punnackal’s computer revealed between 900-1,100 pornographic images on the laptop. Burns said, Punnackal had been on a pornographic website minutes before meeting with the woman, saying he felt the details “went to the motive and how he behaved toward the victim.”
The woman, who is Honduran, did not speak fluent English and the two communicated via Google Translate as she sought counseling after the father of her infant was recently killed. She used her phone and Punnackal used his computer, according to a court transcript.
The TBI report included images depicting bestiality, homosexuality (both male and female) and images Burns thought were “somewhat degrading to women (and) animals.” It also showed Punnackal’s internet search history, which included searches for “Hondurans for sex” and “Honduran sex,” Burns said.
Sevier County Assistant District Attorney Ron Newcomb argued the images were relevant to understanding Punnackal’s state of mind leading up to the alleged assault.
“(I)ntent is a huge issue when it comes to sexual battery-type cases, and especially with the time frame that he’s looking at this material moments before this individual comes in,” he told the court.
The jury never heard the evidence discovered on the laptop, though. Punnackal’s attorney, Travis McCarter, argued and Gass later agreed to shield the evidence.
Susan Vance, the leader of the Tennessee chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told Knox News what was found on Punnackal’s computer is enough to keep him from ministry.
“Significant evidence of wrongdoing as a priest of the Catholic church was discovered on his laptop by the TBI crime lab (and) while this was kept from the jurors in criminal court, it cannot be ignored or minimized by the Diocesan Review Board and church officials,” Vance said in an email.
“The sexual exploitation of adults is prohibited in the Diocese of Knoxville’s policies. The evidence of pornography and other pertinent facts must block any return to ministry by Father Punnackal.”
Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Connect with Tyler by emailing him at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tyler_whetstone.