MA priest defrocked after sexual-abuse charges revealed
From boston.com:
A retired Episcopal priest from Marblehead was removed from the priesthood this month after the church learned of allegations that he had abused a minor in 1974, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts said.The allegations against Franklin E. Huntress Jr., 77, were brought to the bishop’s office in October, said the Rev. Canon Mally Lloyd. Upon further investigation, the diocese discovered he was arrested in 1994 on accusations of sexually abusing a minor when he was serving in England. Huntress resigned before he could be subjected to a church trial, and Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, Society of St. John the Evangelist, officially removed him Feb. 11, according to the diocese.
“When something like this comes up, my heart sinks,’’ Lloyd said. “There is no good outcome of this, for anyone. The alleged abuse happened almost 30 years ago and someone had been walking around carrying that since then. Then for the congregations that have often received wonderful pastoral care from the perpetrator, it is very devastating to realize that clergy is human with all the human flaws that affect the rest of us.’’
