MISSOURI
Southeast Missourian
March 3, 2020
By Ben Matthews
One witness took the stand and publicly testified to his allegations of being sexually assaulted by retired Catholic priest Fred Lutz at a bond hearing Monday.
The retired priest was arrested Feb. 19 at his home in Springfield, Missouri, and charged with the unclassified felony of forcible sodomy, two class C felony counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and one class C felony count of sexual abuse.
Lutz’s case was referred to Stoddard County prosecutors after a yearlong investigation by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office into allegations of sexual abuses committed in Missouri by clergy members in the Roman Catholic Church.
In August 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation showed more than 300 priests were accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children in six Roman Catholic dioceses, and inspired multiple investigations in other states.
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