Lawyer for Priest on Trial Says Different Cleric Abused the Victim

By Peter Smith
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
November 6, 2019

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2019/11/06/Sexual-abuse-Catholic-priest-Hugh-Lang-Pittsburgh-St-Therese-Munhall/stories/201911060142

The trial for a retired Catholic priest on sexual abuse charges began with dramatic testimony and a contentious cross-examination Wednesday after the priest refused a prosecutor’s plea-bargain offer and his defense attorney suggested a different, now-deceased priest is to blame.

The Rev. Hugh Lang, 88, a former superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, faces eight counts related to an alleged assault on an 11-year-old boy in 2001 at St. Therese Parish in Munhall, where Father Lang was a priest at the time.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark Tranquilli is presiding at the bench trial, which will resume Thursday after a full day of attorneys bringing motions and calling witnesses.

The accuser, now 30 and living abroad, testified in graphic detail about the alleged sexual assault.

“I would like Father Lang to be held accountable for what he did to me,” he said. “I want justice.”