Priest's past cast pall in Yonkers

Yonkers, New York —

A Catholic priest receiving peer counseling at the Church of the Annunciation in Crestwood has stopped visiting the church's rectory after allegations resurfaced of a past improper relationship in the 1970s.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the New York Archdiocese, yesterday said the Rev. William Naughton stopped visiting Annunciation Church at 470 Westchester Ave. around March after the church's pastor learned of allegations that Naughton had sex with a young man almost 30 years ago.

Zwilling could not say what type of counseling Naughton was receiving, but Marianna Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., where Naughton ministered, yesterday said the counseling was related to missing funds from a New Jersey church in the 1970s.

Naughton has not been charged with any crime and his presence at the church has only recently become a source of public worry for some members of the parish. Their concerns come as Roman Catholic churches everywhere continue to struggle with the aftermath of its sex-abuse scandal and questions over the role of laity in church administration.

At the Annunciation School yesterday, Belinda Angelori said she had heard of the allegations against Naughton and wanted an explanation of what happened.

Read the article at thejournalnews.com Dated May 26, 2005

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