An elderly Catholic priest, aged 84, has been sentenced to one year in a Michigan jail after being accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy back in 1987, Your Content has learned.
The Reverend Vincent DeLorenzo appeared before the court in Flint on Tuesday, following his earlier guilty plea of attempted criminal sexual conduct.
As part of a plea deal reached with state prosecutors, other charges against DeLorenzo were dropped, sparing the victims from testifying during a trial.
However, five individuals did provide victim-impact statements in court, ensuring their voices were heard, according to the attorney general’s office.
Defense attorney Michael Manley stated, “Justice has been served for the victims in this case.”
During the court proceedings, DeLorenzo remained silent.
The allegations against him involved the assault of a 5-year-old boy following a funeral for a member of the boy’s family.
DeLorenzo had served in various churches, including three in Genesee County.
In 2002, he was abruptly removed from Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, a suburb of Flint, after publicly acknowledging his “inappropriate sexual contact” with a child in previous years.
Local authorities, however, did not press charges against him at that time.
It was only in 2019, when state prosecutors filed charges, that DeLorenzo was living in Florida.
The expiration of the statute of limitations on his case was halted when he relocated out of Michigan.
“The defendant’s admission of guilt and acceptance of responsibility for the abuse he committed played a crucial role in the healing process for DeLorenzo’s survivors,” commented the attorney general’s office, according CBS News.
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