KENTUCKY
Daily Reporter
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: June 04, 2014
OWENSBORO, Kentucky — A former western Kentucky priest has pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse in the 1970s.
The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer (http://bit.ly/Tf9gRJ ) reports the Rev. Louis Francis Piskula, who is now 74, entered into a plea agreement that dropped a first-degree sodomy charge brought in a 2012 indictment.
Piskula’s lawyer, Steven Dowell of Owensboro, said his client “vehemently denied” the sodomy charge and dropping it made it possible for Piskula to accept the deal. It calls for a maximum five-year sentence, with sentencing set for Aug. 6.
The case involved a minor under the age of 12 while Piskula was serving at Blessed Mother Catholic Church in Owensboro.
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