CONNECTICUT
Patch
By Barbara Heins (Patch Staff)
The former pastor of St. Agnes Church has been placed on administrative leave by the Diocese of Bridgeport amid a “credible” allegation of child abuse, according to a statement from Bishop Frank J. Caggiano.
The Rev. Stephen J. DeLuca, who retired as pastor in 2006 and has since been a priest in residence at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Riverside and a chaplain at Greenwich Hospital, has been placed “on administrative leave and has removed his faculties to exercise any and all forms of public ministry as a priest. The decision was made after the Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board ruled that there is credible evidence of an incident of child abuse on the part of Fr. Deluca more than 30 years ago,” Caggiano wrote in a Jan. 31 letter posted on the diocesan website.
According to Caggiano, the diocese “did not learn of this allegation until recently, well after Father DeLuca retired on June 30, 2014. In accordance with both state reporting mandates and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, we notified both the police and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) immediately. Given the information available and the significant time which had passed, neither the police nor DCF took further action.”
The diocese hired an independent investigator who determined the allegation was credible, Caggiano wrote.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.