Former Lower Burrell priest waives sex assault charge to court

PENNSYLVANIA
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CHUCK BIEDKA | Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017

A former Lower Burrell priest accused of molesting a Catholic school student 25 years ago waived the charge to court Wednesday but his attorney is the insisting that the case will end because the legal statute of limitation has expired.

The former Rev. John Thomas Sweeney ,

denies that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy, who attended St. Margaret Mary Church school between September 1991 and June 1992. Sweeney was church pastor.

Court documents state the alleged victim didn’t report the abuse until last year after he watched a “Spotlight,” the Academy Award winning movie about sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Sweeney, now 74, is charged with one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

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