CASPAR (WY)
Star Tribune
August 14, 2019
By Seth Klamann
Cheyenne police are recommending charges for two men — one a clergyman, the other who was attempting to become a clergyman — who are accused of sexually abusing boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
The announcement by Cheyenne police, who did not name the two suspects, comes after a 16-month investigation, according to a department press release. The affidavits recommending the charges have been forwarded to the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office, and the documents “outline how two members of the Catholic Clergy sexually abused male juvenile victims in the 1970’s and 1980’s,” according to the the release.
Cheyenne police originally said both men were clergymen. The department issued a clarification just before 1 p.m. that one of the two men was a member of the clergy at the time of the alleged abuse, while the other man was “seeking membership in the Catholic Clergy at the time of the offenses.”
The release says that the investigation “stems from a case initiated in 2002 that was reopened in 2018” amid new information provided to authorities by the Diocese of Cheyenne.
In 2002, a man told Cheyenne Police that he had been sexually abused by former Bishop Joseph Hart in the mid-1970s. Police recommended that investigation be closed, citing a lack of evidence, and Natrona County District Attorney Kevin Meenan formally did so later that year.
Citing state statute, Cheyenne police spokesman Kevin Malatesta declined to provide any details about the suspects’ identities, other than that they were tied to the clergy. He declined to detail the allegations against them, whether their abuse was at all related, or say how many victims authorities had identified of the two men. He said the affidavits providing further information would be made public if and when the two men are charged.
He said police sent the charging documents to the district attorney’s office Wednesday and said he wasn’t sure what prosecutors’ timeline would be. Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove was not immediately available for comment early Wednesday afternoon.
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