Attorney general charges Pennsylvania priest of sex abuse
LOWER BURRELL – Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced criminal sexual abuse charges against a Westmoreland County priest for a sexual assault committed against a 10-year-old boy.
The Rev. John T. Sweeney of Greensburg was arrested this afternoon and charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, according to Shapiro.
Shapiro said at a news conference in Lower Burrell Township, Westmoreland County, that the arrest was recommended by a statewide investigating grand jury conducting a broader investigation of sexual abuse by priests. He also said Sweeney would have faced additional charges, but the statute of limitations had expired on those charges.
Shapiro asked any member of the public with information about sexual abuse by Sweeney or any priest to call the AG office’s Clergy Abuse Hotline at 1-888-538-8541