Ex-LV bishop knew of complaints about priest

Stacy J. Willis

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.

Former Las Vegas Catholic Bishop Daniel Walsh said he knew in 1995 of accusations of misconduct by a Henderson priest who has since been sued for sexual abuse.

Walsh also received other complaints about the Rev. Mark Roberts' alleged inappropriate behavior but did not permanently remove the priest from his position.

Roberts was sued on March 21 by the families of six Henderson boys who allege he sexually assaulted them between 1996 and 2001 at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church.

The lawsuit also alleges that Walsh, who was transferred from Las Vegas to Santa Rosa, Calif., in May, 2000, his successor Bishop Joseph Pepe, and the Diocese of Las Vegas were negligent because they knew or should have known about the abuse and stopped it.

Walsh said he "only vaguely" recalled a single incident involving Roberts during his tenure, "and to the best of my recollection it involved emotional abuse more than anything else," he told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat last week.

Since then, he has stopped commenting on the case and is referring inquiries to his assistant, Deirdre Frontczak.

Frontczak said Walsh knew that Roberts had some misconduct issues in 1995. Specifically, she said, he had "information about what he describes as bizarre behavior, not sexual abuse behavior, but bizarre, kind of inappropriate, weird behavior, and the priest was placed on immediate administrative leave."

Frontczak said Walsh sent Roberts for psychiatric evaluation and counseling and that after "a period of time" he returned to the diocese and ultimately assumed his position as a youth spiritual counselor at St. Peter's.

Frontczak said Walsh followed the Las Vegas diocese's policies regarding priest misconduct and "as far as he knows those are the same policies that are in place now."

The diocese declined to release that policy.

According to documents obtained by the Sun, Walsh received at least one other series of complaints about misconduct by Roberts in 1998.

Don Meehan, an adult parishioner at St. Peter the Apostle, sent a letter to Bishop Walsh dated Oct. 22, 1998, saying that Roberts had mistreated him verbally, but not sexually, while in confessional.

Meehan said that Roberts called him "ignorant," and said his concerns were "bull s- - -." Meehan alleged that he and Roberts got into a yelling match in the confessional booth and that Roberts "flew off in a rage" and "stomped out."

"My response to this anger was that he gave me no choice but to go to the bishop with this," Meehan, who no longer attends the church, said.

Meehan and Walsh entered into a long exchange of letters about Roberts that resulted in no formal disciplinary action.

Walsh defended the priest and said in a March 19, 1999, letter to Meehan, "People see things in different ways often especially in an emotional situation, and I think that this was the actual occurrence that you experienced."

About two years after Walsh left Nevada, Las Vegas Catholic Vicar General Stoekig notified Henderson police of more allegations against Roberts. Pepe removed Roberts from his post at St. Peter's and sent him to an undisclosed treatment center. Henderson police are still investigating.

Pepe and other diocese officials have declined to talk about the case until it is resolved.

During the recent controversy in the Catholic Church, Walsh has been outspoken about his "zero tolerance" policy for priests who abuse children, promising that priests who abuse children will be suspended and criminally prosecuted.

"I practice it now. I practiced it in Nevada. That's who I am," Walsh told the Press Democrat.