Detroit Priest removed following sexual misconduct claim

Free Press - April 25, 2009

BY CECIL ANGEL • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Catholic priest has been removed from duty after a woman claimed he engaged in sexual misconduct with her years ago when she was a minor, the Archdiocese of Detroit announced Friday.

The Rev. Kenneth Kaucheck, 62, resigned from St. Mary Catholic Church in Royal Oak and St. James Catholic Church in Ferndale after the woman reported the alleged sexual misconduct in late January. The Archdiocesan Review Board shared the complaint with civil authorities and began its own investigation.

This is the only complaint against Kaucheck regarding sexual misconduct.

The board concluded that the complaint was substantive and placed Kaucheck on temporary restriction from any public ministry and an administrative leave of absence.

The Rev. John Hall, a retired priest in the archdiocese, has taken over duties at St. James and St. Mary.

Joe Kohn, spokesman for the archdiocese, declined to say where Kaucheck was assigned when the incident allegedly occurred.

"We're not going to get to that degree of specificity" Kohn said.

According to biographical information the archdiocese provided, Kaucheck was ordained in 1976 and served at churches in Clawson, Dearborn, Detroit, Troy and Grosse Pointe Woods.

Anyone with complaints involving the sexual abuse of minors by clergy or church personnel is asked to call the victim assistance coordinator at 866-343-8055.

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