Albany Diocese Adds Deceased Priest to List of Offenders Following Investigation

By Brenton Blanchet
Daily Gazette
July 7, 2020

https://dailygazette.com/article/2020/07/07/albany-diocese-adds-deceased-priest-to-list-of-offenders-following-investigation

ALBANY -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany announced Tuesday that it’s adding Rev. Alan Jupin, who died in 2019, to its “List of Offenders” after an investigation found “reasonable cause” related to allegations of sexual abuse against minors.

The findings followed 2019 allegations which the Diocesan Review Board hired an investigator to examine.

Jupin has been accused of sexually abusing a total of five minors in Schenectady and Albany in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Previously, he was on administrative leave between 2003 and 2011, before the Diocesan Review Board found the allegations he was on leave for had “no reasonable cause for action.”

Last year, Timothy Sawicki of Schenectady joined a multi-plaintiff lawsuit, filed by the Marsh Law Firm in White Plains, and alleged Jupin groomed and sexually abused him when he was 16 and 17 years old from 1975 to 1977. Jupin worked at St. John the Baptist in Schenectady at the time and Sawicki claimed Jupin introduced him to other priests who also sexually abused him.

“Father Jupin exploited the trust and authority vested in him by defendants by grooming Timothy to gain his trust and to obtain control over him as part of Father Jupin’s plan to sexually molest and abuse Timothy,” the lawsuit read.

Jupin was pastor of Our Lady of Fatima (now St. Kateri Tekakwitha), Schenectady, from 1989 until retiring in 2007; Our Lady of Mercy, Colonie (now Christ Our Light, Loudonville), from 1979-1989; St. John the Baptist, Schenectady, from 1972-1979; associate pastor of St. John the Baptist, from 1971-1972, and associate pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle, Delmar, from 1962-1971. He served as chaplain to the Colonie Police Department.

“As is the case whenever any allegation is received, the Diocese immediately forwarded the related claim to the appropriate district attorney for review, per diocesan policy,” a press release from the diocese read. “Upon release from the district attorney, the Diocesan Review Board was able to commence its own investigation. [It] forwards all pertinent information related to an accused priest, allegations of abuse, and any investigatory reports to the Bishop, who then reviews everything before making a decision on whether to accept the board’s recommendation.”

The Albany Diocese says it urges those abused as children to report the abuse to law enforcement or the diocese.