PITTSBURGH (PA)
WTAE - Action News 4 [Pittsburgh PA]
November 14, 2022
A Catholic priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese accused of molesting an 8-year-old boy at a Plum church in 1998 has been found not guilty.
Court records show jurors returned the not guilty verdict of aggravated indecent assault in the case against Father Robert Cedolia Monday.
Cedolia was placed on administrative leave in 2019 after the allegation was made against him through the Reconciliation and Compensation Program for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
In a statement released Friday, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said that the verdict “represents the conclusion of a nearly four-year period” since the allegation was filed. The statement also said that the “civil court ruling is consistent with the finding of the diocesan Independent Review Board, which found no merit in the claim.”
In 2019, he was priest-administrator of the parishes of Saint Clare in Clairton, Holy Spirit in West Mifflin, Saint Thomas A Becket in Jefferson Hills and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in Pleasant Hills.
Cedolia has maintained his innocence and denied all allegations. In 2021, the diocese said this is the only allegation of child sex abuse against Cedolia during his 41 years in ministry.