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	Vatican Defrocks Former Local Priest By Dave O'Brien Record Courier July 21, 2010 http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4863088 Record courier STAFF REPORT A Catholic priest who served as pastor of a Rootstown parish from 1999 to 2005 was defrocked this month by the Vatican following allegations that he sexually abused at least two students at a Catholic high school in Youngstown in the 1970s. Thomas Crum, 61, has been removed from the priesthood, The (Youngstown) Vindicator reported Tuesday. Monsignor Robert Siffrin, vicar general of the Diocese of Youngstown, told the newspaper Crum was removed from the priesthood about two weeks ago. Crum was assigned to St. Peter of the Fields Church in Rootstown from 1999 to 2005 and was an associate pastor of of Immaculate Conception Parish in Ravenna from 1985-88. Church officials interviewed by the newspaper said Crum was removed from his ministry at Canton's Our Lady of Peace Parish and placed on leave in June 2009 after a 30-plus year old allegation of abuse surfaced. The abuse of a male student allegedly occurred while Crum was a teacher at Cardinal Mooney High School, a post he held from 1975-77. During his 35-year ministry, Crum served numerous parishes in Northeastern Ohio, mostly in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. In a statement on their website, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, urged anyone allegedly abused by Crum "or any clergy in the Youngstown diocese" to call police and report the incidents.
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