A priest removed from ministry for credible allegations of sex abuse and who is living at a Connecticut seminary still drives a tricked-out car that looks like a police cruiser, which was allegedly part of his strategy for attracting likely victims.
According to the Hartford Courant, Fr. Stephen Foley, a former fire and police chaplain, has long driven a Ford Crown Victoria with emergency lights in the grill and front and rear windows as well as scanners and antennae.
Many of the men who have accused Foley of molesting them when they were boys in the 1970s say they were fascinated by his cruiser-like vehicle. But they say once they got into the car with him, he offered them alcohol and molested them.
Foley, who lives at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield and parks his car there, was never charged criminally because the statute of limitations had expired by the time the accusers brought the allegations forward. But the Archdiocese of Hartford has paid millions of dollars to settle claims by Foley’s accusers.
Foley maintains his innocence, but if he’s going to be living on the archdiocese’s dime while being kept out of ministry, then the archbishop—One Archbishop Henry Mansell again—should demand he live a more austere lifestyle without his “toy”.
Under false pretenses
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I think parking an accused priest at a seminary is a terrible idea; not because the seminarians are likely to be his prey (although I can’t rule it out), but far more because of the effect on their morale.
Is St. Thomas Seminary still an actual seminary? Their web site advertises the place as a “conference center” that is “… now available to groups involved in religious, ecumenical, educational or charitable missions”. The website says nothing about Christ, priest, Holy Mass etc….
Maybe funnybunny Foley does the catering?