Omaha priests found guilty of sexual abuse of minors
Nov 22, 2013 15:52:05 GMT -5
Post by PrisonerOfHope on Nov 22, 2013 15:52:05 GMT -5
Franklin A. Dvorak, 69, was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance.
Omaha priests found guilty by church of sexual abuse of minors
Published 12:10 PM CST Nov 22, 2013
OMAHA, Neb. —Two Archdiocese of Omaha priests have received ecclesiastical penalties after having been found guilty by the church of sexual abuse of minors.
Alfred J. Salanitro, 54, has been dismissed from the clerical state, and Franklin A. Dvorak, 69, was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance.
Salanitro was accused of sexually abuse in 2011 by a Carter Lake, Iowa, man who came forward with allegations dating to 1991, beginning when the man was 11 years old. Salanitro was associate pastor of Holy Cross Parish at the time.
Archbishop George Lucas and an 11-member board of childcare experts, law enforcement officials, attorneys, clergy and mental health professionals determined the evidence against Salanitro met the church's minimum standard for a credible allegation.
The case was forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, which directed Lucas to deal with the matter through an administrative penal process. Ultimately, Lucas determined Salanitro was guilty and dismissed him from priesthood, which means he's prohibited from all priestly functions and ministries and can never agains serve as a priest anywhere in the church.
The archdiocese learned in 2012 of allegations that Dvorak sexually abused a female student from 1970 to 1972, while Dvorak was a priest in Norfolk.
Lucas placed Dvorak on administrative leave pending the outcome of a formal inquiry into the allegation, which was later found to be credible.
Ultimately, Lucas found Dvorak guilty of sexual abuse.
Dvorak's prayer and penance penalty prohibits him from publicly exercising priestly ministry in the church. He's been instructed not to wear clerical attire or present himself publicly as a priest, though he is able to retain his clerical status.
The archdiocese said it provided pastoral outreach to Salanitro and Dvorak's victims and letters have been sent to the churches where the priests served at the time the allegations were made public informing them of the outcome of these cases.
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