NEW YORK
Union-Sun and Journal
By Rick Pfeiffer and Philip Gambini rick.pfeiffer@lockportjournal.com
By the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo’s own admission, the parish of Sacred Heart in Niagara Falls was a troubled place in the the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The parish was home to a pair or priests who the diocese now admits were subjects of “credible allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors.”
In the case of Father Michael R. Freeman, at least one of his victims has come forward. Paul Barr has publicly spoken out about his encounter with Freeman in the parish rectory in 1980.
While Barr tried to speak out about his abuse at the time it occurred, confronted by a mother who blamed him and not the priest, he simply kept what had happened a secret.
“I let it go. I didn’t tell anybody about,” Barr said.
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