The Franciscan Friars say it's very troubling that a Wisconsin priest is charged with stealing $900,000 and using some of it to ply a student he had molested with drugs and alcohol. The Rev. Charles Newman - who once led the largest Roman Catholic high school in Philadelphia - was charged in that city yesterday.
The 57-year-old now lives at a Franciscan retirement home in Pulaski, Wisconsin.
The Rev. Leslie Hoppe, Provincial Minister of the Franciscan Friars Assumption BVM Province called the charges against Newman "serious and very troubling."
Prosecutors say Newman gave $54,000 to former student Arthur Baselice III, who later sued over what he described as a sexual relationship with Newman that started when he was in high school.
Hoppe says they didn't learn about the allegations until after Baselice filed a lawsuit in 2004.
Since then, they say, he has been barred from having any contact with minors.
Prosecutors say they plan to extradite Newman in the coming days.
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