PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday, the arrest of Fayette County priest Father Andrew Kawecki.
Father Kawecki is being charged with assaulting an 11-year-old altar boy multiple times starting in 2004.
The assaults spanned over multiple years until the boy was 14.
Father Kawecki, 65, surrendered to agents from the Office of Attorney General at the Fayette County district court Wednesday morning, and is being charged with indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
His alleged victim, now in his late 20s, told prosecuters that Father Kawecki had forced the sexual encounters for three years in the back room of St. Cyril and Methodius Church in Fairchance.
“With the release of our Grand Jury report on abuse two years ago, I promised we would hold anyone who was abusing children accountable, no matter how powerful the institution behind them,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “Survivors experience a lifetime of anguish and trauma trying to overcome the impact of abuse, especially when it is committed by the hands of their own parish priest. No coverup is too long, no institution too powerful to stop us from doing our job. We will not let predators get away with the sexual assault of children.”
Father Kawecki has been on leave since the allegations were first made, and has most recently served as a trust advisor at Conn-Area Catholic School in Connellsville, and has served in 15 Greensburg Diocese parishes since being ordained in 1980.
On Wednesday, Kawecki was arraigned and released on $50,000 bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9.
“Anyone struggling to come forward, know that my office is listening, we are here, and we won’t be afraid to take on tough fights to do what’s right. If you have information, please contact my office at 1-888-538-8541,” added Attorney General Shapiro.
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