Hospitalized Accused Priest Is Found Dead

A Connecticut priest who resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct apparently killed himself Thursday at a Catholic psychiatric hospital, church officials said.

The Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., identified the priest as Father Alfred J. Bietighofer, 64, who left his parish in April and was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Bietighofer was found hanged in his room Thursday at St. Luke Institute, according to Prince George’s County police and hospital officials.

It’s the second apparent suicide of a priest since the sex abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church erupted in Boston early this year. Last month, a priest in Ohio was found dead after being accused of molesting a girl.

“I am profoundly saddened by the tragic death of Father Alfred Bietighofer,” Bridgeport Bishop William Lori said in a statement Thursday. “To parishioners and to all those whom Father Bietighofer assisted during the course of his priestly ministry, I extend my sincere sympathy and prayers.”

Two men told diocesan officials Bietighofer abused them when they were boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s, church officials said. Bietighofer, who was assistant pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Bridgeport, resigned April 29.

“The allegations from the two gentlemen were credible enough to warrant immediate action, in line with our policy,” Lori said at the time the priest resigned.

Father Robert J. Crofut, pastor of St. Andrew Church, declined comment Thursday night.

The Connecticut Post reported that the men accused Bietighofer of fondling them when they were children when he was assigned to Blessed Sacrament Church in Bridgeport.

Bietighofer told the Post he did not know anything about the allegations. Church officials said they weren’t aware of the allegations against Bietighofer until seeing the newspaper’s story.

Church officials did not report the allegations against Bietighofer to authorities, but said they would cooperate if asked for information.

Bietighofer had served in the Bridgeport diocese since he was ordained in 1965, except for two yearlong stints in Peru in the 1970s and 1980s.

St. Luke treats priests and nuns for a variety of mental health problems, including alcoholism, depression and pedophilia. About a quarter of the institute’s 65 beds are used by clergy undergoing treatment for sexual abuse problems. Its residential programs are open to the religious; outpatient programs are open to anyone.

It has become one of the best-known treatment centers and is used heavily by U.S. and some international dioceses.

More than 100 priests have been dismissed or resigned across the country since the sex abuse scandal emerged.

On Monday, a priest was shot and seriously wounded outside his Baltimore home allegedly by a man who accused him of abuse nine years ago.