Ex Pastor Found Guilty of Abusing Girl, by Rocco LaDuca, Utica Observer-Dispatch, January 23, 2008

Ex-Pastor Found Guilty of Abusing Girl

By Rocco LaDuca
Utica Observer-Dispatch
January 23, 2008

http://www.uticaod.com/homepage/x469081274

UTICA – Prosecutors Tuesday said the Rev. William Procanick's guilty verdict of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl suggested nobody should mistake his actions for a harmless backrub.

"It was apparent the jury found that he had, in fact, went beyond a simple backrub in caressing and massaging the sexual or intimate parts of a child for the purpose of sexual gratification," Assistant District Attorney Doug DeMarche Jr. said.

Procanick, the 54-year-old former pastor of Resurrection Assembly of God church on Kirkland Avenue, was found guilty in Oneida County Court of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Procanick now faces up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 29 by Judge Michael L. Dwyer.

Defense's view

Observer-Dispatch The Rev. William Procanick, left, and defense Attorney George Aney sit in an Oneida County courtroom as the verdict is read Tuesday, Jan. 22. A jury found Procanick guilty of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl while she spent the night at his home in March 2007.
Photo by Heather Ainsworth

Procanick's defense attorney George Aney said he did not interpret the jury's verdict with the same "slam dunk" certainty that DeMarche possessed. Because jurors deliberated for roughly seven hours over two days, Aney said some jurors probably were not immediately convinced of his client's guilt.

Prosecutors argued Procanick took sexual pleasure in touching intimate areas of the young girl, who was spending the night at Procanick's home. Procanick, however, has always denied feeling any sexual arousal and testified he didn't do anything to the girl that he wouldn't have done to his own children.

Procanick testified last week that he was "massaging" and "squeezing" the girl's leg and back muscles at her request to help her fall asleep on his bedroom floor.

Aney said he has no doubt the incident happened just as Procanick described it. But, Aney suggested, the girl's age may have played a significant role in swaying the minds of some uncertain jurors.

"Sometimes there is an unintentional masked sympathy for the child," Aney said. "I think the problem with those who made the final decision was that there's a child involved. My experience has been that when you have a child of tender age involved, sometimes the proof does not have to be as persuasive as it would be with an older person."

Aney said he won't refer to the young girl as a "victim." Instead, Aney believes the girl would not have experienced any "serious adverse reaction" to Procanick's massage if it wasn't for the influence of her mother and other people.

But if there's anything Procanick is guilty of, Aney added, that would be "a very bad error in judgment" by allowing himself to be alone with the young daughter of a family friend.

"The verdict says to me that you've got to be darn careful when you have children in your home who are not your children, and you've got to be darn careful that you don't put yourself in the position where such accusations can be made," Aney said.

Following the verdict, Procanick declined to comment as he and his wife left the courthouse hand in hand. Procanick is free on bail until he is sentenced next month.

Prosecution's view

DeMarche said jurors heard Procanick's explanations, and they reached their verdict by weighing his testimony against what seemed credible. They also heard Procanick's own voice in a recorded phone call talking with the girl's mother about his possible interest in the child's "muscular body."

While the purpose of this prosecution wasn't to disparage Procanick's positive influence as a religious leader, DeMarche noted, it was meant to hold Procanick responsible for crossing the line.

"Mr. Procanick was obviously in a position of trust with the family" because Procanick and his wife had cared for the girl and her older sister while their mother got her life together, DeMarche said. "This was a violation of that trust, and that is the most egregious thing."

The girl's family was not available for comment after the verdict, but DeMarche affirmed the unfortunate impact Procanick's actions have had on the girl and her family.

"They've had a lot of sleepless nights, I'm sure," and the girl has experienced reoccurring nightmares, DeMarche said. "Hopefully with this verdict, those things will be put to rest."