MISSOURI
Fox 2
[with video]
(KTVI)– A Catholic priest accused in 2012 of molesting an underage girl from Lincoln County no longer faces criminal charges. Pike County Circuit Judge Chris Kunza Mennemeyer threw out the child endangerment charge against Father Xiu Hiu ‘Joseph’ Jiang on Monday. That ruling became public Friday.
A statement issued by the court indicates new information shows the defendant (Jiang) was never alone with the alleged victim and therefore a charge of ‘child endangerment’ was improper. An associated tampering with a witness charge had to be automatically dismissed once the first charge was dropped.
Lincoln County Prosecutor Leah Askey told FOX2 News the statute of limitations has expired on any misdemeanor charges that might have been considered. However, she said if new evidence of a felony is obtained, new charges could be filed.
Lucy Hannegan, organizer of the Friends of Father Jiang website, said she and other supporters ‘never had any doubts in his innocence so it is no surprise to us.’
David Clohessy, executive director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the teenager and her family are ‘very, very upset.’ ‘The victim and the family reported promptly and there is a lot of evidence, yet still the judge tossed out the charges so it is very disconcerting,’ he added.
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