Owego Update

CENTRAL NEW YORK: Episcopal Priest Faces Two Charges of being a
Pedophile
Former St. Paul's Priest Allegedly Renounces Orders then Retracts
Confession

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org

SYRACUSE, NY (4/3/2006)--A retired Episcopal priest in the Diocese of
Central
New York who was accused of pedophilia by another priest, has apparently
confessed his crimes and allegedly renounced his orders to Bishop
Gladstone
"Skip" Adams and Fr. John Martinicchio, Chairman of the sexual abuse,
"Pastoral
Response Team". However, he later retracted his confession. The bishop
has
allegedly threatened a presentment against him.The priest who revealed
the
alleged sexual activities of the priest Fr. Ralph Johnson is Fr. David
Bollinger, priest for 20 years at St. Paul's, Owego, NY. He himself has
been
inhibited by the bishop for alleged financial irregularities and for
allegedly
whistle blowing on Fr. Johnson.

Chris Peterson a vestryman at St. Paul's, Owego, NY, told VirtueOnline,
that
Johnson, now living in Gibson, PA got a visit recently by Bishop Adams
and Fr.
John Martinicchio, rector of Christ Church, Binghamton, where the priest
allegedly confessed his crimes and renounced his orders during this
meeting.
This confession supports the allegations that were raised over two years
ago by
Fr. David Bollinger, then rector of St. Paul's.

Peterson wrote VirtueOnline saying that when a second person came
forward with
allegations of sexual misconduct of several decades ago, the Diocese of
Central
New York obtained the services of a forensic psychologist, who verified
that the
allegations were, in fact, true.

Bishop Adams and Father John Martinicchio, the head of the Diocesan
Response
Team, then visited Johnson, the accused priest, at his home in Gibson,
Pennsylvania.

"Fr. Johnson signed a paper in which he relinquished his position as a
priest in
the Episcopal Church. It is not known whether this paper contained any
explicit
admission of guilt. But priests have three days in which to reconsider
resignations. And Fr. Johnson rescinded his resignation within those
three days.
The Diocese is now working on a second paper, which, it is hoped, Fr.
Johnson
will sign. If not, we are told, the Diocese will then seek a Presentment
against
Fr Johnson," said the vestryman.

All parties concerned are receiving professional care at Diocesan
Expense, said
Peterson. "Damages are not being sought; merely, an acknowledgment from
the
Church that what happened, actually happened."

When I approached Fr. Martinicchio about what took place, VOL was told,
"I have
no comment. I am not going to discuss the situation." Bishop Adams did
not
respond immediately to an E-mail about the situation. But Ms. Kathleen
McDaniel,
Executive Assistant to the Bishop responded to the e-mail sent to Bishop
Adams
with a copy to VOL saying; "Sorry to have to bother you (bishop) with
this. I
was tempted to delete it. Then I was tempted to send a reply on your
behalf and
simply say, no." The bishop did not personally respond.

Later Bishop Adams did respond to VOL and said this: "Your inquiry is
inappropriate and it would be correspondingly inappropriate for me to
respond."

But Fr. David Bollinger the ousted priest from St. Paul's was under no
such
restriction. He told VOL, "I believe I have been inhibited as a
punishment for
trying to seek the truth about Johnson's alleged pedophile activities
when I
received an affidavit from one of 16 victims of my parish charging the
former
parish priest with sexual abuse."

Bollinger sent the signed complaint to the bishop and pastoral response
team. As
a result of doing this, and because he blew the whistle on the former
parish
priest, the bishop turned on Bollinger and inhibited him and then
accused him of
misusing his Discretionary Fund.

VirtueOnline revealed the name of the priest, Fr. Johnson and identified
him as
retired and living in Gibson, PA. VirtueOnline called the priest.

VIRTUEONLINE: "Fr. Johnson you have been identified as the priest at St.
Paul's
in Owego, NY who sexually abused some 16 boys in the 70s. Is that true?"

JOHNSON: "Not that I know of."

VIRTUEONLINE: A woman has stepped forward with evidence that you had a
joint
bank account with her son to cover up your sexual behavior? Is that
true?

JOHNSON: "No way".

VIRTUEONLINE: "Fr. Bollinger, the current priest at the parish alleges
that he
has been inhibited because he exposed information about you to Bishop
Gladstone
"Skip" Adams? Why would the bishop go after him and not you?"

JOHNSON: "I don't know anything about this. Good luck with this."
Johnson then
hung up.

At the time the diocese said it had insufficient grounds to fully
investigate
the charges. But when another witness stepped forward earlier this year
the
diocese had no choice but to investigate the charges. While the issues
related
to the pedophile charges are closer to resolution at this time, the
diocese has
not yet rescinded the presentment against Fr. Bollinger.

PRESENTMENT ISSUED

But Bishop Adams had already taken the next step in his vendetta against
Fr.
David Bollinger. Following the November diocesan convention he moved
against Fr.
Bollinger and by decree of the Standing Committee inhibited him.

In a letter dated March 14, the Bishop handed down a presentment against
Fr.
Bollinger. The presentment means that Fr. Bollinger will now be tried by
an
ecclesiastical court. The diocese continues to maintain the veil of
secrecy over
the charges, claiming that they are doing so in order "to be fair and
faithful
to all persons involved." The letter further claims that the full
disclosure of
the presentment would "potentially prejudice the proceedings now before
the
Ecclesiastical Court."

The Standing Committee which issued the presentment is the same group
that would
not hear from the vestry (the leadership board) of St. Paul's, Owego,
the parish
where Fr. Bollinger served because to do so would prejudice their minds
in the
matter.

"I have been told by a member of clergy in the Diocese of Central NY
that a
member of the ecclesiastical court, the Rev. Dr. William Lutz, has said
in a
clergy meeting that he believes that Fr. Bollinger is guilty as charged.
If this
is what Fr. Lutz said, he would seem to have a prejudiced mind before
the trial
has even started. If so, this is just one more piece of an ever widening
accumulation of evidence that the diocesan process toward removing Fr.
Bollinger
from his parish and potentially from the priesthood has been extremely
flawed
from the beginning," said Bollinger.

The inhibited priest recently filed a $4.35 million lawsuit against the
bishop,
diocese and former comptroller by his attorney David Goulding. The
lawsuit names
Bishop Skip Adams, the Diocese of Central NY and former comptroller Gael
Sopchak
as defendants.

A letter later arrived stating that Fr. Bollinger's inhibition has been
extended
for another 90 days. This makes it over a year since Fr. Bollinger was
permitted
to function as a priest.

Multiple sources told VirtueOnline that the diocese has hired one of the
most
expensive law firms in Syracuse to handle the lawsuit. Ironically this
was the
same diocese that could not afford to continue the ministry of the
Thornfield
Conference Center and tore it down. "In the past two years, our
impoverished
diocese has paid $30,000 for a forensic audit, hired a public relations
firm and
now an expensive law firm. As our bishop tells us, a budget is a
theological
statement, and the forensic audit, PR firm and expensive law firm speak
volumes
about the bankrupt theology of the Diocese of Central NY," said the
source.

END

----