SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP)– A jury has actually discovered a Catholic priest in Tennessee innocent of sexual battery versus a female who was a church member.
Jurors bied far the decision late recently in the event versus Father Antony Punnackal, who was suspended from his function as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Gatlinburg after being prosecuted in January 2022 on 2 counts of sexual battery.
The charges fixated accusations from February 2020 concerning Punnackal’s actions towards the parishioner. A claim by the female stays active
Punnackal has actually rejected any claims of attack. His lawyer Travis McCarter informed news outlets in a declaration that the priest is a “great human and we are grateful to lastly have the ability to reveal the world that he’s innocent of these allegations.”
A lawyer for the lady indicated her claim, including a declaration that “a civil case under federal trafficking laws is extremely various” than a criminal case.
The federal claim targets Punnackal, the diocese and a Catholic parish, declaring that Punnackal devoted sexual battery when the asylum-seeking mom of 3 kids concerned him for sorrow therapy after her kid’s dad was eliminated.
“This case is now more powerful than it was a week earlier,” stated Andrew Fels, a lawyer for the female.
Daddy Doug Owens, delegate to the apostolic administrator in the Diocese of Knoxville, shared news of the decision in the criminal case “with terrific relief.”
“The tension Father Punnackal needed to sustain in the lots of months leading up to his trial needs to have been unthinkable, however he constantly kept his innocence and we are grateful that the jury heard the statement, examined the proof, and concurred,” Owens stated in a declaration.
Owens stated the diocese will not discuss the suit “up until its fate can be chosen.”
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