OHIO
WTOV
[Zalenski removed from priesthood]
[with video]
Updated: Monday, February 23 2015
By JESSICA GUAY
It’s the story of a Steubenville Diocese Priest who was kicked out of the church after a lengthy investigation involving claims that he sexually assaulted a young female parishioner.
Gary Zalenski was never charged in the decades-old case, and he was cleared by a grand jury. But the church never backed off its investigation and the accusation never stopped. Now a grown woman, the alleged victim continues to stand by her claims.
For the first time since the church removed Zalenski, he’s speaking out — and has plenty to say. Zalenski is still living in the Ohio Valley, and he says he won’t give up his fight or his faith. He would like to be reinstated by the church, and he still maintains he never did anything wrong.
“It has destroyed my life,” Zalenski said. “It has taken, this last time has taken, everything away from me.” Zalenski’s was pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Church from 1987-1991. He eventually landed in Belmont County at Sacred Heart in Neffs in 1999. Nearly 8 years later, in 2007, came shocking allegations from one former parishioner.
“The big incident happened on summer break on a pontoon boat in a lagoon on a medium-sized island across from the main boat marina adjacent to the beach with a tall medal slide at Seneca Lake,” alleged victim Beth Ann Rocker said in a YouTube video. Aside from internet videos, Rocker started writing a book that includes her claims about what Zalenski did to her on his boat.
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