ALABAMA
AL.com
By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com
on March 25, 2015
A national group that monitors allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy has focused attention this week on the Alabama case of David Lawrence Stone, a Catholic priest and former EWTN TV host who was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor under 12.
The minor he is charged with sexually abusing is his own son, now six years old.
Stone, 54, formerly known as Father Frances Mary Stone, was host of the TV program “Life on the Rock” on Eternal Word Television Network.
In court filings, Stone’s attorneys have argued that the allegation of child abuse is false. Stone has been in a lengthy custody battle with Christina Presnell, the mother of his child, according to Jefferson County Court records.
A spokeswoman for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was in Birmingham on Tuesday to discuss the case. She said Bishop Robert J. Baker, head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, should let people know about the allegation and that the priest still lives in Irondale.
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