Accused Priest Commits Suicide

May 17, 2002

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A Connecticut bishop who sent a priest accused of molesting children to a psychiatric facility for evaluation said Friday the man's suicide did not eradicate all the good he had done.

The Rev. Alfred J. Bietighofer, 64, was found hanged Thursday at the St. Luke Institute in Maryland. He was the second Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually molesting children to commit suicide recently.

Bietighofer was found dead in his dormitory-style room at St. Luke, a facility in Adelphi, Md., where priests and nuns are treated for problems such as substance abuse and pedophilia.

The Rev. Stephen J. Rossetti, president and chief executive officer of St. Luke, said in a statement: "We are sad to inform you that a client here for evaluation died today, apparently by suicide."

Bietighofer had served in the Bridgeport, Conn., diocese until his removal on April 29 after allegations surfaced that he had molested children.

On April 4, a priest in Ohio shot himself to death following allegations he had molested a girl, and earlier this week a priest accused of molesting a boy was seriously wounded in Baltimore by his alleged victim.

Bietighofer, ordained in 1965, was stripped of his priestly duties and sent to St. Luke by Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori, who took the action after interviewing two men who told him they were molested by the priest two decades ago when they were children.

 

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