Fr. Paul G. Puza
First named publicly as accused in the 8/14/2018 PA Grand Jury Report. Included on the diocese’s 8/18/2018 list of credibly accused. Assigned to parishes, high schools and Catholic Scouting. In 1991 a former seminarian told Bishop Welsh that Puza molested him three times when he was an eighth-grader. Puza admitted to molesting the boy but said it was just once, when the boy was a senior in high school. He told a therapist of “quite a bit of male and female involvement.” In 1995 a high school student, age 18, reported ‘sexual contact’ with Puza. On 2/4/2002 Puza admitted to ‘sexual misconduct’ with a minor; he resigned as pastor of St. Richard’s in Barnesville 2/7/2002. Laicized in 2010.
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