April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ALBANY DIOCESE
Five priests cleared of allegations
The review board reached the conclusion based on the results of a seven-month investigation conducted by a former FBI agent and supervised by a former New York State Court of Appeals judge and prosecutor.
"Every member of the review board is fully cognizant of our solemn responsibility to survivors of sexual abuse and to the community at large to protect children and to thoroughly investigate each allegation of clergy sexual abuse that we receive," said Christopher Rutnik, a former Albany County Assistant District Attorney and long-time member of the review board.
"In this particular case, as in all cases, our decision was reached after much thoughtful deliberation and a full and fair evaluation of all of the information that our investigation revealed."
As the former head of the major offense unit in the District Attorney's office, Mr. Rutnik prosecuted repeat felony offenders, including individuals charged with sex crimes against children.
The investigation, conducted by retired FBI agent Joseph Flynn, involved 56 interviews with 31 individuals, including the man who made the allegations, members of his family and individuals he recommended, as well as the accused priests.
The review board engaged retired Court of Appeals Judge Albert Rosenblatt of Poughkeepsie to supervise the investigation to ensure its integrity, thoroughness and impartiality.
Judge Rosenblatt was engaged because the father of the individual who accused the priests of misconduct is a former Albany Diocese priest, and his mother is a former employee of an Albany Diocese parish.
Judge Rosenblatt concluded that Flynn conducted the investigation with "objectivity, diligence and open-mindedness" and that his investigation was "meticulous and thorough."
Judge Rosenblatt is an experienced judge and prosecutor. Prior to his seven years on New York's highest court, he was the Chief Administrative Judge of New York State, responsible for day-to-day management of the state's court system.
In addition, Judge Rosenblatt served as the Dutchess County District Attorney before moving to the bench as a Dutchess County Court Judge. He teaches part-time at the New York University Law School. He is counsel to the law firm of McCabe & Mack LLP in Poughkeepsie.
He accepted the engagement on the condition that he would function with complete independence from the Diocese. "My role was to be, and has been throughout, one of independence from the Diocese," Judge Rosenblatt said in his letter.
The investigation was initiated last spring when an Albany County man alleged, based on repressed or recovered memory, that he was sexually abused as a minor in the late 1980s by Revs. Alan Jupin, Donald Ophals, John Bertolucci and the late Louis Douglas. The individual later accused another retired priest, Rev. Carl Urban.
Fathers Jupin, Ophals and Urban, and Bertolucci all denied the allegations. Father Douglas was under medical care at the time and was unable to respond to the allegation. He has since died.
As is its policy, the Diocese promptly referred the matter to the Albany County District Attorney's office.
Fathers Jupin, Ophals and Urban are retired but before the allegation had remained active in ministry. The Albany Diocese placed them on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation. Bertolucci was permanently removed from ministry in 2002 based on unrelated sexual abuse allegations. Father Douglas died in May at the age of 82.
Father Jupin, 73, is the retired pastor of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Schenectady; Father Ophals, 77, is the retired pastor of St. Francis de Sales parish in Troy (now closed); Father Urban, 72, is the retired pastor of St. Adalbert's parish in Schenectady.
As a result of the review board's action, Fathers Jupin, Ophals and Urban remain priests in good standing in the Albany Diocese, and will be restored to active/retired status.
The Diocesan Review Board was established in 1993 to review allegations of sexual misconduct against clergy and to make recommendations to Bishop Howard J. Hubbard on the appropriate action to be taken. It is made up of five laypeople not employed by the Diocese, and two priests.
The Albany Diocese has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse of minors by clerics at any time. Bishop Hubbard has permanently removed from ministry 25 clerics after the Review Board found reasonable grounds to believe they had sexually abused a minor.[[In-content Ad]]
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