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OtNH‘Scotroa^*v »f P*** ;»V'•*» ”*®c»#V*-srP*1'AARON A. MARTINIC THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCPATchurch is being Implemented.This is an ongoing process. said Sister Mary Parks, a diocese spokeswoman.Coleman no longer is listed in the diocese directory and could not be reached for comment.Coleman's name first surfaced in court records from the Luddy case, where in 1991 diocese attorneys identified him as one of at least 10 priests then implicated in sex abuse cases involving hundreds of young boys.Public records from the Luddy trial described Coleman as a pedophile who. as a priest in Bellefonte. Center County, was hypnotizing boys and abusing them.Then Bishop James Hogan told Coleman to get some rest and recreation. and transferred him to St. Benedict's Church in Geistown. court records say.Hogan later removed Coleman from church duties. After Hogan retired in 1981. his successor. Bishop Joseph Adamec. formal ly suspended Coleman.The father of one of Coleman'svictims was a state trooper, who threatened to shoot Coleman, records show, but criminal charges were not filed.In a March 7. 2003. public statement on sex abuse bypriestly ministry all together.Most recently. Coleman's name surfaced in a spate of 13 sex-abuse lawsuits filed against the diocese.Although Coleman is not list ed as a plaintiff, victims' attorney Richard Serbin names Cole man and 14 others as priestshaving a sexual interest in children and being known to the diocese for that tendency.The others named are Joseph Gaborek. William Kovach.of sex abuse surfaced.Serbin. who also w as the attorney in the Luddy case, used the example of Coleman and the oth ers to bolster his legal argument that the diocese had a practice of transferring known pedophiles, rather than removing them from access to children.priests. Adamec described Coleman's status.Dennis Coleman had already been relieved of public ministry by Bishop Hogan when I became the diocesan bishop. Shortly after my arrival. I suspended Coleman, barring him fromLuddy. James Skupien. Thomas Carroll. Leonard Inman. Robert Kelly. Bernard Gratten. Francis McCaa. James Bunn. John Boyle. Martin McCamley. Joseph Bender and Harold Biller.Many of those named have died or retired since accusations
Newspaper Details
Johnstown Tribune Democrat
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, US
Sun, Mar 28, 2004
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Daniel H.
USA 28 Sep 2016
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