Audio clip
Deacon Sean Smith
The Rev. William Casey, a retired priest in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville who on Wednesday admitted that allegations he molested a child when he served a Kingsport church were true, once served Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Chattanooga as associate pastor.
He served the downtown church between 1969 and 1972, Deacon Sean Smith, chancellor for the diocese, said.
In his discussion with diocesan officials, Mr. Casey, 76, a Greeneville, Tenn., resident, said there may be other victims.
Bishop Richard Stika, in a news conference today at the diocesan office in Knoxville, urged anyone else who may have been abused by the priest to contact their local legal authorities as well as the diocesan office.
He said a letter asking other victims to come forward would be read at all Masses and all parishes in the diocese this weekend.
"There could be other abuses, but not to the level of this one," Deacon Smith said Mr. Casey told him. "But unless they come forward, we'll never know who they are."
Such abuse "is an abomination against God," Bishop Stika said, and "it's not to be tolerated."
He said he had suspended Mr. Casey for life so he never again can serve as a priest.
Warren Tucker, of Jeffersonville, Ind., alerted diocesan officials early Wednesday of the abuse, which he said happened over a period of about five years in the late 1970s when Mr. Casey was pastor of St. Dominic Church in Kingsport.
At the time, the church was a part of the Diocese of Nashville. When the Diocese of Knoxville was created in 1988, the priest served the remainder of his career until retiring in 1999 under its auspices.
Rick Musacchio, director of communication for the Diocese of Nashville, said the files on Mr. Casey were transferred to the Diocese of Knoxville when the latter was created.
Other than a rudimentary biography, he said, the diocese had no information on the priest and "no indication of any other problems."
The Rev. George Schmidt, present pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul, could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Tucker, 44, who agreed to be identified publicly, said he was molested until he was about 15 years old. He said the priest, while at St. Dominic, took him on trips, including one to Marion, N.C.
He has filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Casey there because that state doesn't have a statute of limitations when a felony is involved. Tennessee, however, does.
"I was abused in every manner possible," Mr. Tucker told the Associated Press. "I wanted to come forward because, while I never wanted to be one of those adults who blamed their problems in life on their childhood, this kept coming back and eating at me and causing me problems."
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Clint Cooper is the faith editor and a staff writer for the Times Free Press Life section. He also has been an assistant sports editor and Metro staff writer for the newspaper. Prior to the merger between the Chattanooga Free Press and Chattanooga Times in 1999, he was sports news editor for the Chattanooga Free Press, where he was in charge of the day-to-day content of the section and the section’s design. Before becoming sports ...
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