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	Ex-School Counselor Jailed for Sex Abuse Troy William J. Heim, Who Had Been a Priest in Albany, Admitted Touching Boy, 11 By Michele Morgan Bolton Times Union (Albany, NY) August 20, 2002 A former School 14 guidance counselor and one-time Roman Catholic priest was sentenced in Rensselaer County Court on Monday to two years in state prison after admitting in July to inappropriately touching an 11-year-old boy. William J. Heim, 60, of 39 Greenock Road, Delmar, also received five years' probation this spring in a plea deal with the Albany County district attorney's office in which he admitted to possessing child pornography. Heim, who was an associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary's in Albany from 1968 to 1972, was placed on paid leave from the Troy school district following his arrest in March. His June 30 resignation preceded his plea before County Judge Patrick J. McGrath to one count of second-degree course of sexual conduct. Heim told McGrath he had touched the child in "an inappropriate way" at his second residence at 16 Calkins Farm Road in Sand Lake on a number of occasions between last summer and Feb. 14. Rensselaer County District Attorney Ken Bruno said Heim will be closely monitored following his release from prison to ensure abuse does not recur. "It's unimaginable to consider that someone would use their position of trust to violate a young and innocent victim for their own selfish and criminal needs," he said in a statement. Officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany have previously denied ever receiving complaints of sexual misconduct against Heim when he was a priest 30 years ago. Assistant District Attorney Joel Abelove prosecuted the case.
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