KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

Chris Kenning, The Courier-Journal May 11, 2014

More than a decade after the Rev. Joseph Hemmerle was cleared of a single allegation of sexual abuse at a summer camp in the 1970s, a new allegation has led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville to place him on leave as pastor of two Marion County parishes.

According to a May 8 letter from Archbishop Joseph Kurtz to parishioners, Hemmerle was placed on administrative leave after the archdiocese was “contacted by an individual who reported that he had been sexually abused by Father Hemmerle in the 1970s.”

The archdiocese has opened an internal investigation, reported the accusation to the commonwealth’s attorney in Meade County, where the abuse was alleged to have taken place, and counseled the accuser to contact authorities, officials said.

“We realize that this is a painful situation, and we want to support you during this…