Even though he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery against two teenage boys, the Rev. John E. Leonard insists he is innocent of any sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n
“I realize that it is difficult to understand why someone would plead guilty to anything if he\/she did nothing wrong . . . I run the risk that some will see my decision as an admission that I did what was alleged. That is simply not the case,” Leonard wrote in a letter to parishioners at St. Michael Catholic Church in Glen Allen, where he is the founding pastor.<\/p>\n
….In a statement yesterday, the Most Rev. Walter F. Sullivan, bishop emeritus of the diocese, said the diocesan sexual-review board “will review all the information and make any final recommendations they might have to offer.”<\/p>\n
Through a spokesman, Cardinal William Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, who is governing the Richmond diocese until a new bishop is named, echoed Sullivan’s statement.<\/p>\n
However, Leonard’s letter to his parishioners, dated Tuesday, said the plea agreement had been reviewed by the Richmond diocese and “in no way constitutes a violation of nor grounds for dismissal under either the diocesan or [U.S. church] guidelines. Confirming this was a significant factor in my decision to concede to this plea.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Virginia priest noted below. Pled guilty, but says he’s innocent Even though he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery against two teenage boys, the Rev. John E. Leonard insists he is innocent of any sexual misconduct. “I realize that it is difficult to understand why someone would plead guilty to anything if he\/she…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. 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