Tyler whetstone knoxville news sentinel6/29/2023 ![]() ![]() Stika later told a group of priests the allegations against the former seminarian were “boundary issues," but that description is not supported by the report from the seminary. Two weeks later, Stika ordered the firing of an independent investigator hired by the review board to dig into the allegation.Īnd in April 2021, Stika committed the diocese to pay nearly $50,000 for tuition and living expenses for the dismissed seminarian to attend Saint Louis University beginning that fall. Nine days later, a Knoxville diocese sexual assault review board member wrote to the victims assistance coordinator about the rape allegation, and the review board began investigating at the end of the month. The dismissal was explained in a letter from the president-rector of Saint Meinrad Seminary to Stika dated March 1, 2021. ![]() Separately, the bishop told a group of priests he was "supposed to call the meetings," not the chair of the review board.ĭavid Clohessy, former executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the diocese's statements regarding the bishop's involvement with the board is "an enormous stretch, if not absurd and laughable."Ī diocese spokesperson pointed Knox News to church guidance on review boards, particularly language that addresses how bishops should interact with their respective review boards: "Meetings between the review board and the bishop/eparch should be determined by what the bishop/eparch will find helpful and his personal style." Knoxville seminarian accused of rape was booted from seminary over sexual harassmentīishop Richard Stika was told a Diocese of Knoxville seminarian had been kicked out of an Indiana seminary over sexual harassment complaints weeks before the diocese began investigating whether the seminarian had raped a church employee here. The list aside, the bishop was involved from the get-go, receiving emails calling for a review board meeting when it discussed the former seminarian accused of rape. The Diocese of Knoxville has maintained Bishop Richard Stika has never been a member of the sexual abuse review board, even though he was previously listed as a member. Diocese says bishop wasn't on sex abuse review board, but evidence says he was in the loop Knox News could not independently confirm what, if any, response resulted from the email or if Stika told anyone else he would resign. Stika, through a diocesan spokesperson, did not dispute the priest's recounting but declined to comment on "private conversations." The priest reported the bishop’s comments in a May 2021 email to a Louisville priest who was investigating the diocese on behalf of the archbishop in Louisville, who oversees the Knoxville diocese. ![]() Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika told a priest in the spring of 2021 he would resign before he'd allow a former seminarian accused of raping a church employee to be sent back to Poland, according to a written account by the priest. Knoxville priest: Bishop Richard Stika threatened to resign over former seminarian Punnackal was later indicted by a Sevier County grand jury on two counts of sexual battery. The woman alleges the diocese worked to discredit and intimidate her. Mary's Catholic Church, groped her while he counseled her after the death of the father of her infant. Jane Doe is a placeholder name in a lawsuit to protect the identity of the woman, a Honduran asylum seeker living in Gatlinburg who alleges the Rev. The lawsuit also details how the church, led by Bishop Richard Stika, interfered with the investigation and worked to discredit him. ![]()
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