Peoria bishop removes seven priests over abuse allegations

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- The bishop of Peoria has asked seven priests to step down from the ministry over allegations of sexual misconduct, the diocese announced Thursday.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, installed in April as head of the Peoria Roman Catholic Diocese, said he was "deeply and sincerely sorry" about the accusations that caused him to remove the priests, only one of whom was an active pastor.

Jenky said the allegations against one of the men, Norman Goodman, were made in the 1990s and came to the diocese's attention in 1997. Allegations against the others are 20 to 40 years old but were brought to the diocese's attention in the past eight weeks, Jenky said.

"Please know that even in the highly charged and often confusing climate of these days, our Diocese has not hesitated to follow our procedures regarding sexual misconduct and to act decisively no matter how painful or embarrassing might be the consequences," Jenky said in a written statement.

Shortly after taking over, Jenky announced new policies intended to prevent sexual abuse of children. Among those measures was a review of the records of all current priests, deacons and lay employees to determine if they have a history of sexual abuse.

Also, all diocese employees and volunteers were to undergo both a criminal background check through the Illinois State Police and a check through the state Department of Children and Family Services. Anyone found to have a sex crime conviction or a substantiated complaint of abuse would be removed from church-related work under the policy.

Only one of the priests, Gregory Plunkett, 57, pastor at St. Catherine's Parish in Aledo and St. Mary's in Keithsburg, was still active.

Besides Goodman and Plunkett, the priests removed and their last positions were:

Edward Bush, 70, pastor at St. Patrick in Colona; John Anderson, 69, who served in various positions in Henry and West Peoria; Robert Creager, 74, pastor at St. Patrick in Ottawa; Walter Bruening, 73, pastor at St. Joseph and St. Mary in Henry; Richard Slavish, 68, pastor at St. Anthony in Matherville and St. John in Viola.