Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #491

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Priest Gets 60 Days
In Jail For Bubble-
wrapping Boy
By ED WHITE Associated Press
DETROIT -- A Michigan priest accused of wrap- ping a teenager in bubble wrap was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail for attempted false imprisonment. The Rev. Brian Stanley appeared in Allegan County court, two months after pleading guilty in a deal with the attorney general's office. He was initially charged with false imprison- ment.
Stanley was accused of wrap- ping a boy in bub- ble wrap and tape in 2013 in a jani- tor’s room at St. Margaret Church. The boy's eyes and mouth were also covered while he was left alone for an hour, according to the attorney general's office.
Stanley was sup- posed to be counseling the boy.
“Mr. Stanley took advantage of a vulnerable victim and today he is being held accountable," Attorney General Dana Nessel said.
The priest did not speak in court but has expressed
regret about his actions, defense attorney Michael Hills told The Associated Press.
“After this incident in 2013, he was in treatment,” Hills said. “After treatment, I think he realized per- haps he was pro- jecting trauma that he had suf- fered in his life onto others.”
Stanley's conduct
was “sexually motivated,” the attorney general's office claimed, and he will be placed on a pub- lic registry for 15 years.
“There's a big dis- pute about that,” Hills said. “There is no evidence about it. I object- ed to Father Stanley being placed on the registry, although under the statute
it's required regardless of whether criminal sexual conduct is alleged.”
The case against Stanley began when investiga- tors looked at documents held by the Catholic Diocese in Kalamazoo. The diocese has said it twice reported allegations about Stanley to police departments in
2013 and 2017 but no charges were filed.
“We continue to review informa- tion seized from all seven Michigan dioce- ses in 2018, and we will thoroughly evaluate accusa- tions and com- plaints brought forth by victims," Nessel said.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine