Rudy's Firm Hires Priest under Probe

By Stephanie Saul with Carol Eisenberg
Long Island (NY) Newsday
February 1, 2003

http://www.newsday.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=ny%2Dnycatho13112008feb01&section=%2Fmynews

A formerly high-ranking Long Island priest who remains under investigation by his diocese for alleged sexual abuse is working at Giuliani Partners, the Manhattan consulting firm headed by his boyhood friend Rudolph Giuliani.

Less than a year after he was stripped of his right to function as a priest, Msgr. Alan Placa is working as a consultant at the midtown firm, which has landed a number of major corporate and public clients largely on the strength of the former mayor's reputation.

When initially contacted at the offices of Giuliani Partners on Friday, Placa claimed he was merely visiting. But Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel later confirmed that Placa works there.

"He's a consultant here. He has training as a lawyer, he's bilingual, and he also ran the Catholic health services," Mindel said. The exact arrangement Placa has with Giuliani Partners is unclear, and Mindel would not disclose Placa's salary.

Giuliani and Placa were best friends growing up. Both attended Manhattan College in Riverdale, and Placa presided at the funeral of Giuliani's mother in September. Because he had been suspended by the Rockville Centre diocese, Placa needed special permission to officiate at Helen Giuliani's Mass.

Placa, 58, formerly served as vice chancellor of the Rockville Centre Diocese but was stripped of his right to function as a priest last year following allegations that he molested two high school students a quarter-century ago. One of Placa's former students at St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale, now a mortgage broker in Albany, has alleged that Placa repeatedly groped him. Another former student has made similar allegations.

The investigation into those allegations continues. A spokeswoman for the diocese, Joanne Novarro, said Friday that an "intervention team" investigating the allegations has not completed its work.

Placa also has been accused of covering up sex abuse allegations by transferring accused priests to other parishes. He has denied any sexual misconduct and has disputed criticism of his stewardship of alleged sex abuse cases.

David Cerulli, a representative of Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, a support group, expressed surprise that Giuliani would hire Placa.

"I just think it's strange that Giuliani would put himself in the position of hiring someone with this reputation," he said.