WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review

John Stucke The Spokesman-Review

The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, the former director of the Morning Star Boys Ranch, has been reinstated into the active Catholic ministry after sex abuse claims against him were denied by a retired federal judge hired to rule on the credibility of the cases.

Referred to as Father Joe by a Catholic community that admired his decades-long service to troubled boys, the allegations against him were shocking. However, Weitensteiner never wavered in his insistence that while he may have been a tough disciplinarian, he never molested boys entrusted to his care.

As the number of people who said they were abused by Weitensteiner or his staff at the boys ranch grew, former Spokane Bishop William Skylstad removed him from ministry in 2006.

The Morning Star allegations were made in lawsuits that paralleled the bankruptcy of the Spokane Catholic Diocese. The Diocese case included…