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  Criminal Charges Cannot Be Filed against Priest

Associated Press State & Local Wire
June 20, 2003

A man's claim that he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest during the late 1980s and early 1990s cannot be prosecuted because it was made too late, an assistant district attorney said.

Cathy Miller of the Blair County district attorney's office said Thursday that Darrin Mangiacarne's claims that he was abused while an altar boy at St. Marys Church in Hollidaysburg fall outside the statute of limitations.

Mangiacarne, who has filed a civil lawsuit against the Altoona-Johnstown diocese, was the first person to allege abuse occurring during current Bishop Joseph Adamec's 15-year tenure.

The 25-year-old Philadelphia man alleges in the lawsuit that he was molested by Monsignor Thomas Mabon from 1988 to 1990. Mabon retired two years ago and has denied the accusation.

The civil lawsuit does not name Mabon, but the diocese and the bishop, saying too little was done to prevent abuse. Prosecutors began looking into the accusation after the lawsuit was filed.

Last August, a new law took effect giving a person 12 years past his or her 18th birthday to file a complaint of sexual abuse. Before that, the statute of limitations was five years.

Miller said the old statute would have expired on Mangiacarne's claim before the new one went into effect, meaning the case can't be prosecuted.

"That ends the investigation, but it doesn't clean me," Mabon told the Altoona Mirror for a story Friday. He said he is considering filing a lawsuit against Mangiacarne.

 
 

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