From the Little Falls Times
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http://www.littlefallstimes.com/articles/2004/04/21/news/news1.txt) Three file statements over incident at Holy Family
By LORRAINE HEATH Evening Times Staff Writer (Wed., April 21)
LITTLE FALLS — Two people involved in protests in front of Holy Family Parish last fall calling for the removal of the then parish priest Father Charles Celeste were at the Little Falls Police Station Tuesday lodging complaints against Jim Lorenzoni, a Little Falls resident and captain with the Gloversville Police Department. The complaints involve an incident they say took place on November 16, 2003.
Two of the three people attended the November 16 protest at Holy Family Parish calling for Celeste's removal over a relationship with an RPI student. The third person filing a complaint was Randall S. Sweringen, the man who was involved with Celeste when he was 18 and a student at RPI.
New York City attorney John A. Aretakis, who represents Sweringen and protesters David Leonard and Marianne Barone Trent, said Tuesday statements were given at the police department concerning a verbal altercation at one of the protests.
The first protest was held November 10 when the story first broke about the relationship between Celeste and Sweringen. On that day, protesters carried signs and handed out business cards and literature to many of the people entering the church. It was not until the same group returned to Little Falls on Sunday, November 16, that a verbal altercation occurred between Leonard and Lorenzoni, who was headed into the church when Leonard approached him and handed him some of the flyers he was handing out.
Leonard alleges a verbal altercation took place between himself and Lorenzoni.
"The incident was investigated that very day, November 16, by officer Scott Beach," Little Falls Police Chief Gregg DeLuca said. "There was no indication a crime had occurred. They (Lorenzoni and Leonard) were just two people with a difference of opinion."
But on February 9, 2004 — 13 weeks later — Leonard returned to the Little Falls Police Department to file another statement regarding the incident.
One week after that, Leonard's wife followed and filed her own statement. The statements were made with the police department after Aretakis said Lorenzoni's name was submitted for a search.
"We put Jim Lorenzoni's name into the computer to do a search on the Internet and it turned out he was a Gloversville police officer," Aretakis said.
Hand-written letters were also sent to the Gloversville Police Department by Leonard, a Frankfort resident, and a past victim of priest molestation. The letters stated what allegedly had occurred on November 16.
One of the other statements taken Tuesday was from Barone Trent regarding an e-mail message sent to her by Lorenzoni. That message, she said, made her feel threatened.
A copy of the e-mail read in part, "Okay, we have had enough of people holding signs in front of our church and handing out letters from Randy Sweringen accusing Father Celeste of abuse. The priest has already admitted to an 'inappropriate relationship' with another adult 20 plus years ago. I am not interested in walking out of my church with my wife and daughters and having to be confronted by your people, quite frankly, I and many others in our church do not want to see anyone there again and will work to keep you off our grounds."
Trent said she was extremely disturbed by the e-mail and feared for her safety.
It was Trent herself who gave Lorenzoni the business card with her e-mail address. "If people do not want someone to call, e-mail or write to them, then don't provide that information to anyone," DeLuca said.
The last statement taken by police was from Sweringen who flew in from California. Sweringen is alleging a hate crime was committed against him by the statements made to Leonard by Lorenzoni on November 16.
Sweringen, who was in California at the time of both protests, said he feared for his life from those statements.
DeLuca said the statements do not fall in the hate crime category.
The chief said according to the Hate Crime statute, expressions of hate protected by the First Amendment's free speech clause are not criminalized.
DeLuca said the Herkimer County District Attorney's office has also been advised of the statements and what has occurred. "I have been in contact with District Attorney John Crandall many times during the course of the investigation. He has compiled a case folder but basically this entire incident does not rise to the level of a criminal offense," he said.
DeLuca added he has known Lorenzoni all of his life and has worked with him on a professional level.
Lorenzoni began his career as a police officer in Little Falls 21 years ago. Following his tenure in Little Falls he began working in Gloversville and has attained the rank of captain.
Lorenzoni is also an appointed commissioner of the Little Falls Police and Fire Board.
"Did he use bad judgment? Of course. Did he show a lack of discretion? Of course. Did he do anything criminal, no, he did not," DeLuca said of incident, adding that when people are out protesting, they have to expect others are not going to agree with what they are protesting about.
He said both parties, Leonard and Lorenzoni, were expressing their views, and had every right to do so.
"No sworn statements given indicate any criminal behavior," DeLuca said.
ALBANY - After meeting with Albany Roman Catholic Diocese Bishop Howard Hubbard earlier this week, a former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student who was sexually abused by a Troy priest said he was disappointed he had to wait eight months for his pain to be acknowledged by the church.
Randall Sweringen, 38, went public last November with his two-decade-old allegations against former Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity Chaplain Rev. Charles Celeste, who also served as a priest at St. Paul the Apostle parish on 12th Street.
Sweringen sat with Hubbard Tuesday to discuss the four-year, spiritual-based relationship with Celeste that culminated with the priest making sexual advances to him in his dorm room. Sweringen discussed details of the meeting Wednesday with the media at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany, with attorney John Aretakis by his side.
"The formal apology I received from him (Hubbard) yesterday rings hollow because of his compromised position," said Sweringen, who is admittedly homosexual and currently lives in California. "Bishop Hubbard changed course completely and finally admitted to me yesterday that I was the victim of sexual misconduct, that the sex was not consensual, and that Father Celeste had abused his power, authority and position as a priest," he added.
Diocese spokesperson Kenneth Goldfarb would not comment on any of what took place during the meeting with Hubbard, which also included Sweringen's partner, Michael Mansfield, 46, and diocese Victim Assistance Coordinator Theresa Rodrigues. Sweringen claims Celeste abused his position to manipulate him into pulling down his pants and allowing the priest to touch his genitals.
Celeste, who has since admitted the incident did take place, left St. Paul the Apostle at an unknown time after the 1980s incident for the Holy Family Parish in Little Falls, where he took a leave of absence a short time after the allegations were made public. The diocese released a statement last November that called Celeste's actions "extremely inappropriate for a priest," but added that the Diocesan Review Board did not recommend he be removed from ministry. The reason for the decision was partly because Sweringen was of legal age (18) for consensual sex at the time of the incident.
However, Goldfarb did admit Wednesday that the case is currently under investigation. "Celeste crossed the boundaries (sexual) with adults, and that's abuse," said Sweringen, who is director of church relations at Pacific School Seminary in Berkeley, Calif. "There was an ongoing grooming (by Celeste) ... tapping on the butt, tickling, hugs (that led to the night in Sweringen's dorm room). I am not a forlorn lover. ... I was a scared 18-year-old. "I went to him for direction and brought my vulnerability to him and he exploited it. ... That constitutes sexual misconduct," he added.
Sweringen also claimed he was miffed to learn from Hubbard that the bishop was unaware of a letter sent to him on Sweringen's behalf from Pacific School leaders who were disappointed with the Albany review board's initial decision not to investigate complaints against Celeste. A copy of a returned letter from Albany Diocese spokesperson Rev. Kenneth Doyle states Hubbard "received your letter" and that the review board found the sexual relationship "involved consenting adults, each of whom was capable of making informed and responsible decisions." "Why was the bishop's team so poorly organized, with each member of the team sending me different messages?" asked Sweringen. "How could such an important letter be delegated to someone like Doyle, who apparently has a very different and ill-informed understanding of what constitutes sexual abuse and misconduct?" The letter ended by stating that Celeste's actions were not a threat to minors and did not oblige the church to remove him from ministry.
Diocese officials refused to comment on the letter or whether any of Sweringen's statements was true. Before catching a flight back to the west coast, Sweringen also said he believes the first step toward repairing all the mistakes in the handling of the sexual abuse cases of the past would be for Hubbard to resign as bishop. "He has spent years trying to do what is right and good with the poor and marginalized, yet has made some grave mistakes with respect to his management of sexual issues," said Sweringen. "Since he himself is under investigation of sexual misconduct, he is no longer a credible leader."
Hubbard has apologized in the past for his poor handling of clergy sexual abuse cases within the church, but has pledged to change that. Sweringen says he's not looking to file a lawsuit against the diocese, but he would like to be reimbursed for all the psychological treatment he's received to deal with the pain inflicted by Celeste.