Friends Defend Accused Cleric

By Dan Janison and Joseph Mallia
Long Island (NY) Newsday
June 15, 2002

http://www.newsday.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=ny%2Dliplac152748991jun15&section=%2Fmynews

A day after the Diocese of Rockville Centre stripped former Catholic church official Msgr. Alan Placa of the right to serve as a priest, his friends spoke out to defend him against allegations that he abused teenage boys.

One of the priest's friends said an accuser, Richard Tollner, was lying when he claimed Placa abused him 25 years ago at St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale.

"This is truly outrageous. There is nothing to substantiate anything this character Tollner has said," the friend, Michael Hess, said. "Like someone you have not seen in 25 years making this wild allegation that you did something sexual to them. And then trying to get your employer to suspend you. It's tragic - with a guy who's been a real community leader like Alan Placa."

Placa, who has denied any sexual misconduct, was a key official in the diocese's handling of complaints of sexual abuse.

Hess said Tollner's family would have filed a complaint if the charge were true. "He's coming out of the woodwork now. He never filed a complaint. He never wrote a letter. His parents never filed a complaint. So [Placa] didn't do anything," Hess said.

Tollner declined to comment Friday night.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a childhood friend of Placa's, said the priest has lived an exemplary life. "Alan Placa is one of the finest people I know," Giuliani said. "He has helped thousands of people as a priest, as a teacher and as a friend."

Tollner, 43, who is now a mortgage broker in Albany, went public in a Newsday story with the charge that Placa fondled him as a teenager. Another man also said Placa abused him at St. Pius X. The story detailed how Placa allegedly handled complaints about abusive priests, transferring some of the troubled priests to other parishes after treatment.