Fr. John Varno
“Jack.” Arrested in 1997 for public lewdness at a rest area; went on leave. Accused in a lawsuit filed 1/19/21 under the NY Child Victims Act by a man in his 40s of sexually abusing him as a child preparing for First Communion at St. Jude’s in Wynantskill. Varno allegedly got the boy drunk on wine then fondled and sodomized him. The diocese kept Varno in public ministry until his parishioners of Our Lady of Grace in Ballston Lake discovered the lawsuit and demanded his removal in 7/21. Varno stepped down voluntarily, including from assignments at Immaculate Conception in Glenville and St. Joseph’s in Scotia. He denied the allegations.
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