Trinity Mount Ministries

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Convicted in child porn case, rogue priest still preaches as he crafts his own narrative



Brandie Kessler and Dylan Segelbaum, York Daily Record

The general's report comes after years of state and local law enforcement uncovering cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic church.

Nate Chute, IndyStar

The Catholic church kicked him out. He is among 301 "predator priests" named by a grand jury. But he still leads a Catholic church in York County.

A York Daily Record/Sunday News investigation shows how he has tried to discredit the conviction.

He tells supporters various stories about why he was convicted of a crime.

Harry Spencer realized that he was home.

He’d grown uncomfortable with the direction of the Catholic Church, particularly since Vatican II. The doctrines had changed. The Mass had changed. So had all the traditions and rituals.

Then, about seven years ago, Spencer started going to what would become St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Lower Windsor Township. It offers a traditional Latin Mass. The Rev. Virgil Tetherow, also known as Father Gabriel, leads the church.

“I have never met a priest that I’ve felt more comfortable with in his religiosity and his ability to teach the religion of the Roman Catholic faith,” Spencer said. “I love my religion. And Father Tetherow is a true Catholic priest.”

But that is not what the Catholic church says.

In fact, Tetherow “is not recognized as a priest, is prohibited from presenting himself as clergy and is not associated with the Diocese of Harrisburg,” said Mike Barley, a spokesman for the diocese, who encouraged the faithful to not attend Tetherow's services.

Tetherow, 54, is among 301 “predator priests” named in the recent landmark grand jury report that details widespread sexual abuse in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. He was arrested in 2005 after police found child pornography on two computers and he later pleaded guilty to criminal use of a communication facility.

In a statement provided to the grand jury, he maintains his conviction isn't what it seems and that the grand jury report distorts the public record. He’s never been accused of physical sexual abuse of children.

Many of the clergy named in the almost 900-page report are dead. But Tetherow, who declined to be interviewed, is still actively running a church — and there’s nothing, and apparently no one, that can prevent him from doing so. A York Daily Record/Sunday News investigation based on dozens of interviews, Right-to-Know Law requests, court records and secret canonical letters reveals how he’s been able to weave a narrative to discredit the conviction and keep loyal followers in his flock.

READ: 'Punished' for being sexually abused in York County: Jehovah's Witnesses' culture of cover-up.



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