The Rev. David Fleck, 76, is still listed in the Catholic Diocese of Evansville's clergy directory as being on "administrative leave."
That designation isn't given to any other clergy member.
It's the same status that was applied to Fleck in September 2018, when the diocese barred him from public ministry following an accusation that reportedly stemmed from Fleck's time working at Vincennes Rivet High School in the 1980s.
In a statement Friday, the diocese said nothing has changed.
"Fr. Fleck remains on administrative leave and is not serving in public ministry," director of communications Megan Erbacher said. "We are not able to offer further comment at this time."
According to a letter the Evansville diocese wrote to the Knox County Prosecutor's Office that the Vincennes Sun-Commercial obtained through a public records request in 2018, the diocese fielded an accusation that Fleck "solicited" two male Rivet students in 1984, and as well as a third male at a different time.
The complaint, the diocese reportedly told prosecutors, came secondhand, and not from any of the three males allegedly involved. Fleck has denied the claim.
When the allegation surfaced, a diocese spokesman said the church had relayed it to both civil authorities and its Diocesan Review Board: the five, bishop-appointed persons who "function as a confidential, consultative body to the bishop on matters related to the response of the local church to issues surrounding the sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons," the diocese's website reads.
"Privacy concerns of an alleged victim and the reputation of our priest – in case such allegations are determined not to be credible – must also be taken into account," the diocese wrote in a statement at the time. "As a result, diocesan staff will not comment further."
No charges have ever been filed against Fleck.
Response to other priest allegations
In the nearly eight years since the allegations, two other Evansville priests have been accused of misconduct. One was deemed resolved by the church in a little more than a year, while the other case spanned only a matter of months.
In February 2019, a former Evansville resident testified in front of the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee. He was speaking in favor of an ultimately unsuccessful bill that would have granted accusers more time to file civil suits in cases that normally would have exceeded the statute of limitations.
During his remarks, he said the late Rev. Raymond Kuper sexually abused him multiple times when he was 9 years old. The abuse reportedly occurred when the man was a student at Christ the King School in Evansville.
Kuper served as pastor there from 1977 to 1987. He died in 2012.
A little more than a year after the allegation, in June 2020, Bishop Joseph Siegel told reporters at a news conference that he "found that this allegation cannot be substantiated."
A family member of the man who made the allegation against Kuper later told the Courier & Press the diocese never involved the family in the investigation. Church officials claimed they sent the family a certified letter during the investigation, but the family said they never received it.
"As always, we are left disgusted and disappointed by the actions of Bishop Siegel and the Evansville Diocese," the statement read in part.
The other allegation arrived in April 2022, when the Rev. Bernie Etienne was accused of sexual misconduct allegedly stemming from an incident two decades earlier. Etienne "strongly" denied the claim, the diocese said in a news release at the time.
Seven months later, in November 2022, the diocese announced Etienne had returned to active ministry and that the allegation was "determined to be unfounded."
Fleck was ordained in 1975, diocese records show. He worked at multiple schools and parishes within the diocese, including Mater Dei High School. His tenure at Rivet ran from 1979 to 1986.