Priest's laying on of hands not kosher

It was a case of 'He said, he said'

A western Wisconsin diocese and Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki are being criticized for not reporting to law enforcement sexual assault allegations against a visiting priest who was later arrested.

A 47-year-old West Salem woman told the Diocese of La Crosse in September that the Rev. Edmund Donkor-Baine allegedly touched her breasts and placed her hand on his pants over his genitals while counseling her for a divorce, according to a sheriff's department report.

Listecki wrote her a letter dated Dec. 22 stating that her complaint was the first the diocese received against the priest* and that Donkor-Baine, 47, denied the allegations.** The letter also said the diocese had not been able to conclusively determine what happened.

Chicago Tribune

We have different standards down here in the real world, where the accused is taken into custody and where the sheriff's department is capable of more thorough investigation than the diocese.

A study for the U.S. Conference of Bishops found that the La Crosse Diocese sided with priests over victims in 64% of cases, compared with the national average of just less than 10%.

At least one law enforcement official lacks confidence in Listecki.

* Interesting defense, as he'd only been there for about a year.

** Has the presumption that the clergypeople are more inclined to truthfulness than any other people been completely abandoned yet?