Public records show that a defrocked New York Catholic priest who was “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy now runs a charity that provides scholarships to Catholic schools for underprivileged children, NBC News reported.
John J. Voglio, 65, president of Mary F. Clancy Charities is now president of Mary F. Clancy Charities — which was founded in 2000 by another former priest who was also accused of sexually abusing a minor. In his role, Voglio regularly “mingles with children and teenagers” who attend the organization’s charity events, NBC News’ report stated.
Madelaine Cavegn, who is a member of the organization’s board of directors, told NBC News that Voglio is “very good with the kids” and that they “like him very much.”
Voglio, who has never been charged with a crime, does not mention on the organization’s website that he is a former priest. “He’s like a missionary,” Cavegn said. “He is very involved. Before we give out any grants, he conducts all the interviews with the schools.”
Sex abuse victims advocate at the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) David Clohessy told NBC News that Voglio should be nowhere near children.
“Credibly accused child molesting clerics, especially if they’ve been defrocked, belong in no position of power or leadership, especially one that is connected in any way with children,” Clohessy said.
Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer who investigates sexually abusive priests says she’s not surprised that Voglio placed himself in a position where he has access to children.
“Experience has taught me that it is common for credibly accused priests and religious brothers to continue to work at organizations, for instance, schools, camps, churches, hospitals, boy scouts and clubs,” Garabedian said told NBC News.
From NBC News: In 2002, a Massachusetts man told New Hampshire investigators that Voglio had seduced him 20 years earlier at a Salesian Brothers summer camp in that state, according to a report prepared by Paul Brodeur, a former investigator with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. The accuser said he was 12 when the abuse occurred in 1982.
Voglio was a Salesian Brother at the time and working as a camp counselor, the report states.
“The fondling and oral sex went on beginning within a few days of arriving and continued to the end of two weeks,” the accuser, whose name was blacked out, said in the report.
The accuser “advised that he had not seen VOGLIO again but did received a Xmas card from him the Xmas of 1982 postmarked Ohio,” the report states. “VOGLIO spoke about going on to to become a priest with the Selesian’s (sic).”
Read the full report at NBC News.
