BishopAccountability.org
	Ex-Attorney Testifies in Priest-Abuse Trial By Jim Walsh The Arizona Republic May 23, 2006 http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0523fushek0523.html Former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley testified Monday that he didn't bring felony charges against suspended Monsignor Dale Fushek four years ago because there was no evidence that the Mesa priest had touched anyone sexually. But Romley also testified that shortly before he left office Jan. 1, 2005, he authorized the investigation that led to the seven misdemeanor sex counts against Fushek. He is scheduled to stand trial June 2. Fushek was placed on administrative leave from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix in December 2004, when he was accused in a civil suit of watching as another priest sexually abused a teenage boy. Romley testified that in 2002, he relied on the advice of Deputy County Attorney Cindi Nannetti, the former head of the sex-crimes unit, in weighing charges against Fushek. "She indicated there was no hands-on touching. She did not believe there was enough evidence to proceed,: Romley said. Romley was asked by Fushek's attorney, Thomas Hoidal, to testify at a hearing before San Tan Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman on a motion to dismiss the charges. Hoidal argued that all charges should be dropped because documents naming his client were turned over to the County Attorney's Office in 2002 by the diocese. In a letter to the diocese, an attorney in the sexual harassment case wrote that his client "was not the first victim of Father Fushek's sexual deviancy," Hoidal said. He said prosecutors should have investigated Fushek at that time, when the one-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors was triggered. Romley said the allegations probably should have been investigated more thoroughly in 2002. "If an attorney is saying there are other victims, that's one I think we should have followed up on," Romley said. But Deputy County Attorney Barbara Marshall said neither the attorney nor the sexual harassment victim could provide the names of any sex-crimes victims. Marshall argued the charges should not be dismissed because prosecutors did not know the victims' names until January 2005. Fushek was charged in November 2005 with five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of assault and one count of indecent exposure stemming from his relationships with five boys while pastor of St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa. Marshall last week dropped two counts of assault and one count of indecent exposure against Fushek because prosecutors first received the information in 2002.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.