New York Catholic priest arrested for abusing minors while volunteer in Charleston in 1980s
A Catholic priest in New York was charged in Charleston on Thursday for allegedly sexually abusing minors while he was a volunteer in the Holy City more than 30 years ago.
Freddy Washington, a 53-year-old resident of West 138th Street in Harlem, faces two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11 years old, and one count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 years old, according to court and jail records.
Washington appeared in bond court on Thursday where he was given $100,000 bail on the lewd act charge, according to jail records. No bail was given on the criminal sexual conduct charges.
He is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spiritans, according to a statement by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston. The abuse dates back about 35 years — the early 1980s — when Washington was a volunteer at St. Patrick Catholic Church on St. Philip Street.
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