KANSAS
The Wichita Eagle
[Ex-area priest accused of sexual abuse]
[In 5 suicides, families blame Father Larson]
BY STAN FINGER
THE WICHITA EAGLE
09/05/2014
Robert Larson, the Catholic priest convicted of sexually abusing altar boys while serving in the Wichita diocese, has died.
Diocesan officials on Thursday said Larson died Aug. 27 at the age of 84. He was buried in his home state of Michigan.
“We pray for all victims of sexual abuse and for their families,” the Most Rev. Carl Kemme, bishop of the Wichita diocese, said in a statement following Larson’s death. “We continue to learn from them and we recommit ourselves to vigilance in protecting children and young people from the tragedy of sexual abuse.”
Larson pleaded guilty in 2001 in Harvey County District Court to abusing three altar boys and a 19-year-old man while he was pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Newton in the mid-1980s. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
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