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  Priest Charged with Making Obscene Calls

Boston.com [Daytona Beach FL]
December 12, 2003

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A part-time priest was charged with making obscene phone calls to a 70-year-old Ormond Beach woman.

Stanley Staniszewski, 60, who worked as a "helper" priest at several Catholic churches in the Diocese of Orlando, said he was unaware of any charges and that the calls were made as "a joke" and that he was "under the influence of medication."

The woman, who requested her name not be released, said the Nov. 1 and 2 calls were enough to "scare the heck" out of her.

Staniszewski said he still considered himself able to function as a priest.

"I have done nothing to her. It was on the phone," Staniszewski said Tuesday. "I apologize if I used bad language."

Diocese spokeswoman Carol Brinati said Staniszewski's "faculties" were removed Nov. 11 by Orlando Bishop Norbert Dorsey, and that he was asked to leave the diocese by Nov. 14, but "we can't make him leave."

Unhappy that the diocese had no plans to get Staniszewski help or prevent him from working as a priest elsewhere, the woman called the Volusia County Sheriff's office to press charges.

The complaint affidavit was forwarded to the State Attorney's Office, which would decide whether to prosecute the misdemeanor charges, deputies said.

Information from: The Daytona Beach News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com

 
 

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