Denver, Colo., Jul 14, 2010 / 11:01 am
Following the dismissal of a sexual abuse claim against a deceased priest in the Archdiocese of Denver, Archbishop Charles Chaput issued a statement saying he was “saddened” by the false allegations.
The Denver Catholic Register reported today that in 2009, a woman with the pseudonym “Jane Doe” accused Msgr. William Higgins – a priest who died in 1967 at the age of 77 – of sexually abusing her in the 1960s.
Archdiocesan spokeswoman Jeanette DeMelo told the Register that when the complaint was received last year, “we responded immediately.”
“We took the accusation seriously despite the fact that the priest died 42 years ago, and that the charges did not seem plausible,” DeMelo explained. “We reached out to the alleged victim as we do in all such cases. We invited her to participate in our victim outreach panel and offered assistance to her, with the hope for healing.”