PENNSYLVANIA
The Times-Tribune
BY PETER CAMERON (STAFF WRITER)
Published: April 5, 2014
When Kay Vargo decided to marry her high school sweetheart, she asked the priest with whom she felt most connected to officiate the ceremony later this year: the Rev. Philip Altavilla.
So the revelation late Thursday that the priest had been arrested for giving alcohol to a 13-year-old and touching her inappropriately after a midnight Christmas Mass in 1998 at St. Patrick’s Parish in Scranton hit Ms. Vargo particularly hard.
“I cried,” said Ms. Vargo, 19, who first met the Rev. Altavilla while he served at her family’s church, Our Lady of the Snows in Clarks Summit. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“It’s kind of a shock-and-awe situation,” said her father, Al Vargo, echoing many who knew and worshipped with the priest.
Police took the Rev. Altavilla, 315 Wyoming Ave., Scranton, into custody Thursday night after he admitted on the phone – while officers listened – to the now-adult victim of having a “foot fetish” and touching her inappropriately, according to court records. The priest is free on $75,000 unsecured bail after being charged with indecent assault, criminal attempt to indecent assault and corruption of minors. His preliminary hearing is slated for Wednesday.
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