A Buffalo Diocese priest has been put on leave over an allegation that he sexually abused a child, the diocese announced Thursday.  

The Rev. Joseph E. Vatter, 71, who retired in 2022 as pastor of St. Paul Parish in Kenmore but continued to occasionally celebrate Mass at various churches, will be on leave while the diocese investigates the allegation.

Diocese officials declined Thursday to disclose when the alleged incident occurred, but said they had notified the Erie County District Attorney’s Office about the allegation.

In September, a Rochester area man, Robert Kapal, told The Buffalo News that Vatter had abused him when he was a 9-year-old altar boy at St. Christopher Church in the Town of Tonawanda in 1980. 

Diocesan records obtained by The News show the church in 2004 received an abuse complaint about Vatter, but the diocese determined in 2005 that there was “no basis” to the…