LANSING, Mich. — On May 24, Fox 47 reported two of the five people charged by Attorney General Dana Nessel were priests in the Lansing diocese.
A former New Orleans attorney has become the fourth black female bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church and the first in the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee./ Source: MGNThe statement gives more details about what led to the priests' removal from the Lansing diocese.
On Friday, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced several charges against 69-year-old Timothy Crowley and 80-year-old Vincent DeLorenzo.
The AG's office says Crowley molested a boy at Saint Mary Parish in Jackson and Saint Anthony in Hillsdale. The Lansing Diocese says an allegation made against him in 1993 led to his removal from the ministry.
A spokesman for the diocese says the organization received a complaint about DeLorenzo of sexual abuse involving a minor back in 2002.
Bishop Earl Boyea released a statement on the charges saying he welcome's action so "The truth can come out and justice may be served. Any priest who commits reprehensible acts against children does grave harm to victims. He betrays the priesthood and the entire church."
Bishop Boyea says since 2002, seven additional complaints were made against DeLorenzo.
The Lansing Diocese has requested he be "defrocked" and are waiting on a decision from Rome.
DeLorenzo is in custody in Florida awaiting extradition to Michigan to face five charges.
Crowley has since been defrocked and is in custody in Arizona.
He will face six charges when he's extradited back to Michigan.
Attorney General Nessel says her team has only gone through about five to 10 percent of the total information received so far.
As of right now, 21 total charges have been filed against five priests.
Nessel says the clergy abuse tip line is responsible for nearly all of the charges and arrests.
Nessel says there may be hundreds or thousands more clergy abuse victims who have yet to come forward and more arrests and charges are expected to come in the future.
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