SOUTH DAKOTA
Keloland
[with video]
ABERDEEN, SD – A priest working as a chaplain in Aberdeen has lost his job after allegations of sexual harassment.
Charles Emezie was a chaplain at an Avera hospital and nursing home. Emezie no longer works for Avera and can’t practice ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls either.
Emezie worked more than 18 years as a chaplain for Avera in Aberdeen. When word spread that he’d lost his job after sexual harassment allegations, Nicholas Berens was surprised.
“I think everybody is equal and the same measures should be taken no matter what, but I would expect more out of a clergyman,” Berens said.
Because it’s a personnel matter, administrators with Avera say they can’t comment beyond saying Emezie doesn’t work for Avera any longer and he didn’t hurt any patients in the hospital or residents in the nursing home.
According to a statement released by the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, an investigation found that reports that Emezie sexually harassed adult female staff members have been found credible. The Diocese also says Emezie’s conduct violated its sexual misconduct policy.
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