PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Courier Express
Associated Press
A former Philadelphia priest named in more than 20 abuse complaints during a long church career has been criminally charged for the first time after a new accuser came forward within the new time limit.
The Rev. Robert L. Brennan, 75, was arrested on rape charges in Perryville, Md., where he’s been living since he was suspended after being named in a 2005 grand jury report on sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He is now charged with sexually abusing an altar boy from 1998 to 2001 in northeast Philadelphia.
Earlier complaints against Brennan were long buried in a locked vault at the archdiocese, according to documents unearthed in a landmark church-abuse trial last year. But Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said the archdiocese _ after the conviction of a church official over his handling of complaints _ did the right thing when Brennan’s latest accuser contacted them in January.
“This shows the sea change, I believe, in the manner in which the archdiocese under (Archbishop Charles) Chaput is handling” complaints, Williams said.
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