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Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Lawyer West Virginia
POPE FRANCIS ORDERS PROBE OF SEX ABUSE CHARGES AGAINST RESIGNED WEST VIRGINIA BISHOP
On September 13, 2018, Pope Francis ordered Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore to investigate allegations of sexual harassment of adults against Bishop Michael Bransfield of the Diocese of Charleston-Wheeling. Bishop Bransfield faced charges of sexual abuse against teenage boys in the 1970s and 1980s during his time as a priest in Philadelphia. The Church admits to learning of the allegations in 2007. Prosecutors chose not to pursue the case at the time, but the case was reopened in 2012 after Bishop Bransfield was accused of abuse during a separate trial.
West Virginia Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Lawyer
A witness stated during that trial that former priest Stanley Gana told him that Bishop Bransfield took a group of boys to a farmhouse and was having sex with one of the boys. The same witness also claimed to have been abused by Gana at a Jersey Shore beach house the belonged to Bishop Bransfield. Bishop Bransfield denied the allegations of abuse and claimed to be unaware of any abuse perpetrated by Gana. Gana was defrocked and entered treatment supervised by the Church in 2002.
During his time in Philadelphia, Bishop Bransfield was the vice principal of an archdiocesan high school, and he later became the Director of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. In 2005, he became a bishop in West Virginia. Bishop Bransfield has ties to the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who resigned in July from the College of Cardinals after being accused of molesting an altar boy and pressuring adult seminary students into sharing his bed. Bishop Bransfield and Cardinal McCarrick worked together at the Papal Foundation, and Cardinal McCarrick was one of three cardinals who presided over Bishop Bransfield’s consecration in Wheeling in 2005.
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Bishop Bransfield resigned from his post shortly after his 75th birthday, which is the age at which bishops usually offer their resignation though many bishops are given permission to continue in their duties. Bishop Bransfield’s resignation came after the accusations of sexual harassment, and Archbishop Lori took over the diocese of Charleston-Wheeling while he conducts his investigation and until a new bishop could be appointed.
Archbishop Lori has promised to thoroughly investigate the claims against Bishop Bransfield and to work with the religious and lay leaders of the diocese until such time as a new bishop is appointed. No details of the sexual harassment allegations were released by the church, but the diocese set up a telephone hotline for parishioners who had tips pertaining to the allegations.
West Virginia Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Lawyer
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