BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News
March 27, 2018
By Aaron Besecker and Jay Tokasz
A former Genesee County man has accused a dead Buffalo Diocese priest of sexually abusing him as a teenager.
The Rev. Robert P. Conlin was not on the list of 42 priests whom the diocese recently said had credible allegations against them.
Wayne Bortle, 53, publicly accused Conlin of sexually abusing him in the rectory of St. Mary Church in Pavilion more than three decades ago, when Bortle was about 16.
Bortle said Conlin frequently hosted boys inside the rectory to watch television and to play pool, foosball and ping pong. Bortle said he was alone in the rectory with Conlin watching television the night he alleges the priest molested him.
“That was the only time I was there I can remember no one else was there,” he said. Bortle said he never went back to the rectory.
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