NEW YORK, NY May 24, 2002 — A Roman Catholic priest from India, who was studying and working in New York City, has been charged with sexually abusing a twelve year old girl. The alleged abuse took place in 1999, when Father Francis Nelson was working at St. Mary's Star of the Sea in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Father Nelson was arrested yesterday, at St. Charles Borromeo Church in West Harlem, where he was last assigned. These are the first criminal charges against a priest in New York since the child sexual abuse scandal broke. WNYC's Amy Eddings has been following the story, and spoke with WNYC Morning Edition host Soterios Johnson.

Amy, what do we know about Father Nelson?
Father Nelson is from the Diocese of Kottar, in India, and has been here since 1996. The Bishop of Kottar, Leon Tharmaraj, says he sent Father Nelson to the States for studies. Father Nelson had been a graduate student at Fordham University up until this spring. The Brooklyn Diocese says Father Nelson worked at Saint Mary's for three years, at the request of Bishop Tharmaraj, until 1999, when the allegations surfaced. According to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, Father Nelson visited the girl's family in May of that year, pulled the girl onto his lap and abused her. The allegations have come to light NOW because Father Nelson's file was one of 25 that Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily has turned over to law enforcement in the last month. This girl is still a minor, and the statute of limitations has not run out. A grand jury handed up an indictment of Father Nelson on two counts of second degree sexual abuse and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

So much of this sexual abuse scandal has focused on how church officials have handled these cases. How did the Brooklyn Diocese handle this one?
The Diocese says it investigated the complaints against Father Nelson shortly after they were brought to its attention in 1999. Father Nelson denied them, but church officials asked him to leave -- quote -- "because the Diocese questioned the credibility of his denial." Spokesman Frank DeRosa says that, about a month later, in July of 1999, Bishop Tharmaraj was visiting New York, and Bishop Daily told him about the allegations against Father Nelson, and that he wanted Father Nelson to leave Brooklyn, and Bishop Tharmaraj agreed to that

He was arrested at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Manhattan. Did the Diocese of Brooklyn transfer him there?
No. Spokesman Frank DeRosa says, after Father Nelson was asked to leave, it was the responsibility of the Bishop of India to determine where he'd go next.

Frank DeRossa: Shortly after the Bishop from India left the Diocese of Brooklyn after his meeting with Bishop Daily, a couple of weeks later, the Diocese became aware of the possibility that he would be seeking to place him at a parish near Fordham. And we communicated with the Archdiocese indicating that we were aware of that. That there was this allegation, yes.