A Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Greensburg pleaded no contest Monday to charges of sexually assaulting an altar boy multiple times between 2004 and 2007 at a Fayette County church, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.
Andrew Kawecki, 66, was charged by state AG’s office in August 2020 with multiple offenses after he was accused of assaulting the boy beginning when he was 11 years old at SS. Cyril and Methodius Church in Fairchance.
According to the AG’s office, Kawecki forced sexual encounters with the victim for three years in the back room of the church, where Kawecki prepared before Mass.
At Monday’s pre-trial conference, which was presided over by Fayette County Common Pleas Judge Linda Cordova, Kawecki pleaded to indecent assault, which will also require him to register as a sex offender for 10 years under Megan’s Law, according to the attorney general’s office.
“Kawecki’s plea today is a confirmation that we will always hold anyone who abuses children accountable,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in a release. “We prosecute these cases because we have a duty to protect children, empower survivors to reclaim their own voice, and seek justice to move forward with the lives still in front of them. No coverup is too complete, no institution too powerful, to stop us from doing our job.”
Continue reading at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
WATCH: It’s Homosexuality Stupid!