Lawyers for a Clarksburg man have accused a Catholic priest of sexually abusing their client over a three-year period, starting in 2003. Lawyers say Father Charles McCallister molested their client ,who was 15 when the abuse began.
McCallister was a priest at the Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksburg at the time.
He died in 2007.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday naming the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, current Bishop Michael Bransfield and former Bishop Bernard Schmitt and the executor of McCallister's estate, as defendants.
In response to that lawsuit the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston issued this response.
"We received notification on March 2nd, 2007, of an allegation of sexual abuse by one of its clergy, the Reverend Charles E. McCallister.
The complaint was immediately reported to local authorities, and the diocese cooperated with the local authorities during their investigation."
The news release goes on to state that the diocese took action, "by immediately suspending Father McCallister from his ability to exercise priestly faculties and the diocese initiated its victims outreach program."
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