Kentucky priest, team chaplain accused of sex abuse

OWENSBORO (KY)
WLKY TV

March 2, 2019

A Catholic priest who was often seen on the bench alongside Rick Pitino’s Kentucky and Louisville basketball teams has been suspended on allegations he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

Father Joseph Edward Bradley was “temporarily suspended” by the Diocese of Owensboro, according to a statement Friday. The diocese received a report that he had sexually abused a minor “in the 1980s while he was principal at Owensboro Catholic High School.”

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Bradley was a fixture on the University of Kentucky bench during the Pitino coaching era in the 1990s. Bradley also served as an unofficial chaplain to Pitino’s University of Louisville teams.

Bradley, 75, retired from ministry in 2011 but has been the volunteer chaplain at Owensboro Catholic High School since then, the diocese said.

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