Nation : Covenant House Gets New Chief
Covenant House named a former school administrator today to take over Father Bruce Ritter’s duties while the founder of the runaway shelter is investigated on suspicion of having sex with teen-agers.
The appointment of former New York City Schools Chancellor Frank Macchiarola as acting president came as the New York Post reported a fourth man has come forward to say he had sex with Ritter when he was a teen-age runaway.
The 62-year-old Franciscan priest who founded Covenant House and has seen it grow into the nation’s largest shelter system for runaways reasserted his innocence Tuesday, even as he was being directed by his order to step aside.
Covenant House said Macchiarola, school chancellor from 1978 to 1983, will assume Ritter’s duties immediately. Macchiarola has served on the Covenant House board for five years.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
