Archbishop Removes Priest from Ministry

By Tim Townsend
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 9, 2013

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/archbishop-removes-priest-from-ministry/article_8d0ebc52-7743-5ac7-96eb-8e5ea80e2327.html

The St. Louis Archdiocese has said it permanently removed a priest from ministry last week.

In an statement on the archdiocese's website dated May 1, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said an independent advisory board had determined a recent allegation against the Rev. LeRoy Valentine, 71, was credible.

Carlson said the alleged incident occurred “in the 1970s.”

Three brothers who said they'd been molested by Valentine in 1982, sued the priest in the 1990s eventually settling with the archdiocese for $20,000 each.

In 2002, at the height of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic church, the archdiocese said that while the brothers' allegations against Valentine had not been credible it was investigating a new accusation. Valentine resigned from St. Thomas the Apostle in Florissant, where he was serving as associate pastor, during that investigation.

Contact: ttownsend@post-dispatch.com