NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- A Queens priest has been removed from ministry following an independent review that detailed sexual misconduct with teens, church officials announced on Monday.
The Diocesan Review Board Most had been investigating the claims made in a Child Victims Act lawsuit filed against 54-year-old Father John O’Connor, Pastor of St. Gregory the Great in Bellerose on August 13, 2020.
New evidence was disclosed during the investigation regarding the March 2000 accusation that detailed inappropriate internet communications that O'Connor had with teenagers while assigned at St. Athanasius.
As a result, the Diocesan Review Board found sufficient information to substantiate allegations of sexual misconduct with minors via the internet and recommended Fr. O’Connor’s removal from ministry.
Following that accusation, O’Connor was placed on leave by the Diocese of Brooklyn to enable him to receive treatment from May 2000 to August 2001.
O’Connor returned to ministry in the Diocese of Brooklyn in August of 2001, and continued treatment through 2005.
The removal from ministry means that O’Connor is no longer permitted to celebrate Mass publicly, cannot exercise any public ministerial duties, and cannot live in an ecclesiastical residence.
His name will also be added to the List of Credibly Accused Priests on the Diocese of Brooklyn website.
Father O’Connor was ordained on June 23, 1993 and completed post-graduate studies in Rome.
He then served at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brooklyn, and St. Athanasius and St. Clare’s in Queens.
O’Connor also served as Pastor at Incarnation and most recently at St. Gregory the Great, Queens. In 2014, Father O’Connor was named the Director of the Liturgy Office for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
In 2002, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops passed the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, including a Zero Tolerance policy that states any clergy member who is determined to be credibly accused of sexual misconduct with a minor is permanently removed from ministry.
Anyone who has been the victim of clergy sexual abuse is encouraged to report it to law enforcement or to the Toll-Free Reporting Line established by the Diocese at 1-888-634-4499.
Related
