Allentown priest sentenced for groping 17-year-old parishioner

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(Photo by James Coleman/Unsplash)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A Roman Catholic priest in Pennsylvania has been sentenced for groping a 17-year-old parishioner and sending her lewd photos and a video.

The Rev. Kevin Lonergan was sentenced Monday to one to two years in prison for indecent assault, according to the district attorney's office.

Authorities say Lonergan met the teen at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Allentown, where she and her family worshiped. Lonergan, 31, admitted to rubbing his body against hers in a sexual manner and sending her 20 sexually explicit images and one video.

Lehigh County Judge Maria Dantos revealed during the hearing that it was not the first allegation of this kind against Lonergan.

Matthew Kerr, spokesman for the Diocese of Allentown, said Lonergan was previously the assistant pastor at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church in Palmer Township and was removed during an investigation into what was determined to be an unfounded "concern."

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Chief Deputy District Attorney Matthew Falk says the investigation into the earlier allegation against Lonergan stalled when the family and girl refused to cooperate with law enforcement.

Lonergan was restored to ministry and appointed as assistant pastor at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown.

Dantos compared Lonergan's reassignment to a practice condemned since the 1980s: relocating a troublesome priest.

"We are still transferring priests that molest children?" Dantos asked. "If he had been sanctioned and fired, this victim would not be a victim."

Dantos referenced a report during sentencing that described Lonergan's previous allegation as "hands-on molestation" of a 15-year-old girl.

The Allentown Diocese said in a statement that it's inaccurate to say it transferred a priest who committed an offense. The diocese said the statement Lonergan was reassigned after Northampton County Children and Youth -- a state agency tasked with the protection of children and youth -- decided the allegation was unfounded.