Maryland Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors Placed on Administrative Leave

The abuse was alleged to have taken place a long time earlier than in one other diocese ‘previous to his ordination to the priesthood.’

A priest at a Catholic church in Garrett Park, Maryland, has been positioned on administrative go away after he was accused of sexually abusing minors earlier than he turned a priest.

The Archdiocese of Washington (ADW) knowledgeable parishioners at Holy Cross Catholic Church in a Sept. 30 emailed letter that their pastor, Father Robert P. Buchmeier, had been suspended from his duties and is not residing on the rectory. Father Buchmeier has not been charged criminally in reference to any of the allegations.

Within the letter, Father Anthony Lickteig, the ADW’s episcopal vicar for clergy, defined that the Archdiocese of Arlington, Virginia, notified the ADW of the accusations towards Father Buchmeier and famous that the abuse was alleged to have taken place a long time earlier than in one other diocese “previous to his ordination to the priesthood.”

The letter didn’t specify the variety of incidents of abuse cited within the accusation.

WTOP information reported that an e-mail from the principal at Holy Cross Catholic Faculty, which serves kids from pre-kindergarten by eighth grade, stated that the alleged sexual abuse occurred in Virginia.

The letter indicated that the accusations have been first made to the Diocese of Arlington and suggested anybody with extra data to contact the Alexandria police.

Alexandria police couldn’t be reached for remark on the time of publication. The Catholic Normal reported that as of Oct. 4, prices had not been filed towards the priest.

Father Buchmeier was ordained in 1991 after research at Blessed John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. Earlier than coming into the seminary, he spent 15 years of commissioned service within the U.S. Military as a Medical Service Corps officer.

He was appointed pastor of Holy Cross by Cardinal Donald Wuerl in 2015. Following his ordination, he served as a parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Clinton, Maryland.

He then served on the following Maryland church buildings: St. Bernardine of Siena Parish, Suitland; Christ the King Parish, Silver Spring; St. Mary Parish, Bryantown; and St. John the Evangelist Parish, Clinton. As a pastor, he has served at St. Nicholas Parish, Laurel, from 1998 to 2005; St. Columba Parish, Oxon Hill, from 2005 to 2011; and Sacred Coronary heart Parish in La Plata from 2011 till his appointment to Holy Cross.

It is a growing story.