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  Green Bay Priest Put on Leave
Allegation of Sexual Abuse Surfaces after More Than 25 Years

Asociated Press, carried in Wisconsin State Journal
May 8, 2002

A Catholic religious order has removed a priest from his duties as a teacher at a Catholic high school in Green Bay after it received an allegation the priest had sexually abused a child.

The Norbertine Order also placed the Rev. Angelo Feldkamp on administrative leave, said Beth Sheedy, associate principal at the order's Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay.

The matter involved an alleged incident with a child more than 25 years ago, the school said. Feldkamp was a teacher at another Catholic high school in De Pere at the time, Sheedy said.

Feldkamp is one of three Wisconsin priests suspended from duty because of sexual misconduct allegations. The other two are from the Diocese of Green Bay and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Since January, dozens of priests out of more than 47,000 nationwide were suspended or forced to resign on suspicion of child molestation after the sex abuse scandal emerged in Boston.

Feldkamp was suspended last week, and the 775-student high school told students of the action Tuesday. Feldkamp and Norbertine officials did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

Authorities in Brown, Milwaukee, Outagamie and Winnebago counties are investigating 11 priests accused of sexually abusing children. It was not immediately known whether authorities were investigating Feldkamp.

The 11 investigations stem from alleged abuse that took place before 1993, prosecutors say.

No charges have been filed in any of the cases, and prosecutors expect to take at least two weeks to decide whether to file any charges.

The state's other three dioceses in La Crosse, Madison and Superior say they have no priests under investigation. District attorneys in the counties where those dioceses are headquartered said they have received no allegations against priests.

The Green Bay and Milwaukee dioceses named special task forces to review priests' files for sex abuse allegations.

 
 

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