Accused priest can return to church
A Pewaukee priest whose sexual assault of a minor case ended with a mistrial and then dropped charges is being allowed to return to work at his church, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced Saturday.
The announcement comes after the archdiocese says it completed its own investigation into the allegations against the Rev. Charles Hanel, 63, and determined they were unsubstantiated and false. He will be restored to the ministry effective Monday and will be allowed to resume his role of pastor at Queen of Apostles Church in Pewaukee. Hanel was charged with seconddegree sexual assault of a then-13year-old girl in a confessional at the church in December 2017. In March 2020, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwell declared a mistrial after it became public that the girl’s mother is an undocumented immigrant trying to gain legal status to stay in the U.S.
Assistant District Attorney Mike Thurston then filed a letter in June dismissing the charges against Hanel “out of a consideration of the amount of strain that a future trial will place on all parties, most importantly the victim and her family.”
In a letter released Saturday, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki said the archdiocese hired an independent investigator to examine the allegation once criminal charges were dropped. Those results were then reviewed by the Diocesan Review Board, which recommended Hanel be restored to the ministry.
The archdiocese did not immediately identify the independent investigator or the members of the review board when asked by the Journal Sentinel on Saturday.
“The Archdiocese of Milwaukee takes any report of clergy sexual abuse of a minor very seriously, as did Fr. Hanel, who agreed to step aside as your pastor to allow for a thorough investigation,” Listecki wrote.