MISSOURI
Columbia Daily Tribune
By Brennan David
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Three men recounted memories yesterday in Cooper County Circuit Court of childhood sexual assault they say was inflicted by former Boonville priest Gerald Howard.
Charged with three counts of forcible sodomy, three counts of attempted forcible sodomy and two counts of kidnapping, the former Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church priest argued that his case should be dismissed because the statute of limitations has expired. Howard was indicted in April 2010 for the alleged crimes between March 1984 and September 1987 and was arrested soon after at his Bloomfield, N.J., apartment.
Circuit Judge Robert Koffman listened to oral arguments for four hours and will rule later. The prosecution and defense also may file written briefs for Koffman’s consideration.
“I would say, ‘No, I don’t want to do this,’ and then he would talk me into it,” a 41-year-old man said of sexual assaults he said he endured between August 1986 and September 1987. The names of the three men were not disclosed in court. At the time of the alleged assaults, the boys were in their early to mid-teens.
Howard, formerly known as Carmine Sita, once served as a priest in New Jersey. After molestation accusations, he completed a treatment program specifically for priests with sexual abuse issues. He changed his name and was reassigned by then-Bishop Michael McAuliffe as an associate pastor at the Boonville church. McAuliffe died in 2006.
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