New allegations released against retired Fort Atkinson priest

Channel 3000
May 22, 2018

https://www.channel3000.com/news/new-allegations-released-against-retired-fort-atkinson-priest/744787388

FORT ATKINSON, Wis. - A retired priest in residence at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Madison is facing more allegations since being charged with felony sexual assault last week.

According to a release Monday from the Diocese of Madison, William A. Nolan, 64, is being accused of sexual misconduct toward an adult male in 2009, two years after retiring from priesthood in 2007.

Diocese officials said during an initial investigation in 2009, the victim denied the allegations after someone else reported it.

However, the victim filed a complaint with the Janesville Police Department in 2015 but Channel 3000 has yet to confirm the details.

After Nolan was accused of sexually assaulting an altar boy more than 100 times during his time as the priest of St. Joseph Church in Fort Atkinson, the victim changed his stance.

The Madison Dioceses is working with the Ft. Atkinson and Janesville Police Departments to investigate the new allegation.

On May 17, Nolan was charged in Jefferson County court with six felony counts of second-sexual assault of a child under 16 years old. 

The judge ordered a $50,000 signature bond.

According to the criminal complaint, more than 100 assaults took place between February 2006 and the summer of 2010, when the boy was 13 to 17 years old. 

That victim, now 25, reported the alleged incidents to police in April. 

He told police he was a student of St. Joseph Catholic School in Fort Atkinson and an altar boy for the church when the alleged incidents took place.

In a statement to parishioners Thursday, Our Lady Queen of Peace Pastor Ken Fiedler addressed the charges, saying parish leaders are "following the proceedings as they are made known and will work at the direction of the Diocese of Madison in resolution of this matter." 

The Diocese of Madison has placed Nolan on administrative leave, which means Nolan is excluded "from any exercise of priestly ministry while the matter is pending." The diocese said it has begun its own process of investigating allegations, and the diocesan Sexual Abuse Review Board is also involved.

Nolan served as priest at St. Joseph in Fort Atkinson from 2002 to 2007.

He is due back in Jefferson County court on June 5.