[Photo above: Priests Pascal Ipolito and Samuel J. Venne are pushing back against the Buffalo Diocese’s new monitoring program for priests with substantiated abuse claims against them]

The Rev. Samuel J. Venne insists he never molested a child, and he believes he has evidence to prove it.

But three years after he was first accused of sex abuse, Venne, 80, has not had a chance to defend himself against the claims.

Bishop Michael W. Fisher now is threatening to take away Venne’s pension, unless he agrees to be monitored under a new diocese program for priests with substantiated abuse claims against them.

Venne wants no part of the program, and a lawyer has advised him not to sign any monitoring agreement.

“I am not guilty and have never been given an opportunity to present my case,” Venne wrote in a recent letter to Fisher. “This entire process is…