A 39-year-old man, who previously worked in the Syracuse Catholic Diocese and was convicted of inappropriately messaging an underage girl, has officially left the priesthood.
Nathan W. Brooks, 39, was accused in 2024 of grooming, touching and messaging an underage girl since she was 14 years old. The incidents happened between 2019 and 2021, authorities said.
At the time, Brooks was a priest in the Syracuse Catholic Diocese and working as an administrator at the Church of the Nativity at St. Joseph in LaFayette, Immaculate Conception in Pompey, St. Leo in Tully and St. Patrick Mission in Otisco.
When the allegations came out, he was placed on administrative leave and removed him from all public priestly duties pending the outcomes of the criminal and internal investigations.
In a news release Thursday, the Syracuse Diocese announced Brooks is no longer a priest.
“After further investigation, the Diocesan Review Board advised [Bishop Douglas J. Lucia] that the allegations were credible and substantiated,” the statement said.
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