NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times
December 4, 2020
By Liam Stack
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it was investigating the Rev. George William Rutler after a security guard said he attacked her at his church.
A nationally prominent Catholic priest is under criminal investigation after a security guard assigned to his church accused him of sexually assaulting her on Election Day, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Friday.
The priest, the Rev. George William Rutler, 75, is accused of watching pornography and masturbating in front of the guard, Ashley Gonzalez, 22, without her consent in his office at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. He then attacked her physically and sexually when she tried to flee from the room, Ms. Gonzalez told the police.
In a letter to his parish after the accusations surfaced, Father Rutler denied Ms. Gonzalez’s claim that he “improperly touched her.” But he did not respond to her allegation that he had watched pornography and masturbated in front of her.
Part of the alleged encounter was recorded by Ms. Gonzalez on her cellphone. She provided the video clip, which shows a man who fits Father Rutler’s physical description, to law enforcement officials and to The New York Times.
Father Rutler, one of the most influential parish priests in the United States, is a well-known figure in the world of Catholic conservatism, and has been outspoken in his criticism of liberalism and the pontificate of Pope Francis.
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