Priest Busted With Pantless Teenage Boy

A Pennsylvania priest whose duties included counseling troubled youths has been arrested after being caught with a 15 year-old boy that he picked up on Craigslist. The boy was not wearing pants at the time of the arrest.

The Rev. William Paulish was in Lackawanna County prison, unable to post $50,000 bail Friday. The charges include corruption of a minor, indecent exposure, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under 16. Court records did not list a lawyer for Paulish. The Times-Tribune of Scranton reported that Paulish, 56, has been reassigned 15 times by the Diocese of Scranton after being ordained in 1988 and has had three separate leaves of absence. The diocese did not respond to the newspaper's requests to explain the reassignments and absences. In a press release, the diocese said it removed Paulish from his assignment as assistant pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Old Forge and suspended his ability to work as a priest.

More from the Times-Tribune:

As a priest, he had five reassignments in his first 5½ years, ending up as chaplain at Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre from Jan. 24, 1994, until July 4, 2000, the most stable period of his career, according to information provided by the diocese. Over the next 13 years the Rev. Paulish was moved another nine times. He spent two years and one month on three separate leaves of absence. Two were accounted for by the diocese as health-related. The reason for the other was not specified.

Paulish told police that he asked the boy three times if he was 18, but that he also watches "twink porn" on occasion. (Tipped by many JMG readers)

UPDATE: The Diocese Of Scanton has issued a statement.

Upon being notified of this incident, the cleric was immediately removed from his assignment and his faculties to exercise priestly ministry were suspended. The Diocese has pledged its cooperation to law enforcement and asks that anyone who may have been sexually abused by Father Paulish or any member of the clergy notify the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office at (570) 963-6717 or local law enforcement. In response to this situation, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, expressed his remorse and personal sorrow for the young man who was victimized and his family. In expressing his concern for the Prince of Peace parish community, where Father Paulish most recently served, as well as the faithful and clergy of the Diocese of Scranton, the Bishop said, “I wish to acknowledge how unsettling this is to me personally and to countless others, that yet again a priest has been involved in such inappropriate, immoral and illegal behavior.”