FORT WAYNE (IN)
WANE [Fort Wayne IN]
March 10, 2022
By Rex Smith
Former Columbia City priest and chaplain for Bishop Dwenger High School David Huneck was sentenced in Whitley County Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to groping a woman at his home.
A judge accepted the plea deal with prosecutors that called for a 180-day sentence to be served as home detention. Huneck will then be placed on probation for two years and he will be required to complete 80 hours of community service.
Huneck originally faced six charges. As part of the plea, those 6 charges were dropped, the two most serious of the six being child seduction and sexual battery, both Level 6 felonies. He agreed to two new charges of battery with bodily injury.
Huneck’s plea agreement originally called for him to serve 10-90 days concurrently on both charges.
He was accused of groping a woman and exposing himself to a minor at his home on two separate occasions in late 2021.
After the allegations surfaced, Huneck resigned from his post as chaplain at Bishop Dwenger and was suspended from pastoral duties by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
The diocese issued this statement to WANE 15 after Huneck’s sentencing:
“The Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend extends its thanks to the Columbia City Police Department, the Whitley County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Whitley County Court System for the work they have done in the case of Father David Huneck.
As was shared previously, the church has its own investigative process called the canonical process, which is separate from the civil law’s criminal process. Our internal diocesan investigation resulted in the finding that the allegations against Father Huneck are credible. In consultation with the Diocesan Review Board, Father Huneck was placed on our public list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. We will continue our canonical process of Father Huneck in the church, and he remains suspended from all public ministry.
The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend continues to extend our heartfelt prayers for victims of abuse and all who are affected by this news and stands firm in its commitment to investigate any allegation of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy and to listen to and support anyone who has been abused. Please contact Mary Glowaski, Victim’s Assistance Coordinator and Assistant to the Bishop in Pastoral Care, at mglowaski@diocesefwsb.org or 260-399-1458.”