Former Orangevale Priest Accused of Child Sex Abuse
By Suzanne Phan
ORANGEVALE- Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies are investigating a former priest at an Orangevale church for alleged child abuse. This comes after other allegations involving the priest surfaced in Wisconsin. Father Robert Marsicek, a priest at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Orangevale from 1987 until 2001, is now under investigation for allegations of child abuse. 27 year old Catherine Knepshield, who just a child at the time, remembers "Father Bob." "He'd have a boat, he'd take all the families out on the lake," said Catherine. Marsicek started the Orangevale parish in 1987 and served there until he left for Wisconsin. Church member LouAnne Knepshield said, "He is a fabulous man. He brought this church together. He was part of everybody's family. We loved him." Milwaukee police are investigating Marsicek in connection with an incident there that allegedly happened before Easter. At Sunday Mass in Orangevale, a pastor read a notice from the Diocese of Sacramento about the developments. "There's another allegation that involves acts of sexual abuse involving children who were parishioners here," explained the pastor at the Divine Savior Catholic Church. Those 2 other alleged victims at Marsicek's former church in Orangevale didn't want to say anything, according to the Diocese. But the allegations were reported to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department late last year. Kevin Eckery, spokesman for the Diocese of Sacramento said, "Now we have new reports out of Wisconsin with the same priest and have felt an obligation that we have to go out and say something." Eckery went on to say, "We have felt a strong obligation to bring the information to parishioners. We've already alerted the Sheriff's Department. If there are people who have information about the abuse or know anyone who has been abused, we want them to contact the sheriff's department immediately." LouAnne Knepshield says the victims would have been her son's age. "If there's victims out there and this is true, absolutely, I think we should make sure things are taken care of. However, we also know there are people out there that also want to make a buck. So, we have to be careful about false allegations as well," said LouAnne. The Diocese of Sacramento says the news is difficult for many families to hear, but it is committed to working with the Sacramento County Sheriff's department in the investigation. Right now, no charges have been filed against Marsicek in Wisconsin or in California. He has been removed from active ministry while police and sheriff's departments investigate the allegations against him. Contact: sphan@news10.net
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.