• St. Louis priest charged with having child porn

    By Kevin Murphy, Reuters

    KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A federal grand jury indicted a Catholic priest in St. Louis on Wednesday on child pornography charges involving Internet images of a boy under the age of 18, in the latest sex accusation to rock the Church.

    William Vatterott, 36, was charged with possession of child pornography, according to the indictment released by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, if convicted.


    The indictment is the latest in a series of abuse accusations to hit the U.S. Catholic Church over the past two decades. The scandals have cost the Church billions of dollars in settlements and driven prominent dioceses into bankruptcy.

    U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said the Archdiocese of St. Louis cooperated with the investigation.

    The archdiocese placed Vatterott on administrative leave in June 2011 when it first learned of the allegations, according to a statement it issued on Wednesday. Vatterott was also accused of an incident involving underage drinking and inappropriate behavior, the archdiocese said at the time.

    Vatterott had served as pastor of St. Cecilia Parish since 2008, according to the archdiocese.

    The case comes after Kansas City priest Shawn Ratigan pleaded guilty last August to producing child pornography. In September, Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of failing to report suspected child abuse when he did not report that Ratigan had the pornographic images.

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Priest pleads guilty to drug-peddling charges

    Monsignor Kevin Wallin of the Diocese of Bridgeport, 2010.

    By LeAnne Gendreau, NBCConnecticut.com

    A Connecticut Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty on Tuesday to selling 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine.

    Monsignor Kevin Wallin, the 61-year-old former pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, was arrested on Jan. 3, accused of receiving shipments of crystal meth from a California distributor and selling drugs to an undercover officer six times between September 2012 and January 2013.

    According to court documents, Wallin had a crystal meth addiction and sold the drug out of his Waterbury apartment. He also sold drugs from the parking lot of Land of Oz in North Haven, an adult specialty store and smoke shop, that he bought in the fall.


    Investigators believe that Wallin bought the store with drug proceeds and might have intended to use it to launder drug money.

    On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. In doing so, he admitted to receiving and distributing 1.7 kilograms of meth, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

    Wallin resigned in 2011 citing health and personal issues and was suspended from public ministry last May by the Diocese of Bridgeport. He will be sentenced on June 25.

    He originally pleaded not guilty in December, but changed his plea on Tuesday.

  • Connecticut priest rebuked for role in cousin's same-sex wedding

    A Catholic priest was rebuked for performing a reading at his cousin's same-sex wedding in New York while wearing a Roman collar. WVIT's Ilana Gold reports.

    By Bob Connors, NBCConnecticut.com

    A Catholic priest has been rebuked after performing a reading in his cousin's same-sex wedding.


    Rev. Michael DeVito, of Sacred Heart Church in Suffield, Conn., was called into his archbishop's office after a wedding announcement in The New York Times mentioned that DeVito assisted in the August ceremony. 

    Hartford Archbishop Henry Mansell "formally rebuked" DeVito for his participation in the New York wedding, a citation that will be part of his permanent record.

    See the original report  |  More from NBCConnecticut.com

    The archdiocese released a statement on the matter Thursday:

    "Archbishop Henry J. Mansell has met with Father Michael DeVito regarding the priest's participation in a same-sex marriage ceremony involving a cousin in New York City on August 19th. According to Father DeVito, his participation in the ceremony was limited to doing a reading. He wore no vestments, but had worn his Roman collar. Archbishop Mansell informed Father DeVito that his participation in this ceremony was understandably perceived by many Catholics as an implicit endorsement of same-sex marriage, which is contrary to Church teaching. As a consequence, and in accordance with canon law, the Archbishop formally rebuked Father DeVito and informed him that the rebuke would be a permanent part of his record. Fr. DeVito said that he would not participate in any way in same-sex marriages in the future."

    The church’s response has sparked outrage.

    “I understand where the Catholic church is coming from, and it makes me really sad,” said Robin McHelen, who runs True Colors, an advocacy group for the gay and lesbian community.

    “I grew up Catholic. The word I grew up with was abomination,” McHelen said.

    McHelen worried that the rebuke would hurt those struggling with their sexuality.

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    “It sends a message to kids that if you're gay, you shouldn't be Catholic,” McHelen said.

    While some parishioners in Suffield thought DeVito crossed the line, most disagreed.

    “I guess I don’t see anything wrong with it. If that’s his family member and he wanted to be there, that's fine,” Janine Liddell said.

    “I think what he did was fine because he was with family ... and family is family, no matter what,” Carolyn Zartner added.

    That reason wasn’t enough for the Catholic Church.

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    “Every religious faith has its right to its own rules and regulations and belief systems,” McHelen said.

    It was a belief system DeVito said he would not go against. He agreed to not have any involvement with same-sex marriages in the future.

    The archdiocese would not say what DeVito’s punishment was, only that it would be a permanent part of his record.  

    DeVito would not comment on his meeting with the Archbishop.

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