Longtime priest convicted in sex-abuse case
Lang guilty of one felony, five misdemeanors
The Rev. Hugh Lang, a priest for 63 years, was convicted Friday of indecent assault and unlawful contact with an 11-year-old boy while he was pastor at St. Therese of Lisieux parish in Munhall.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark V. Tranquilli announced the verdict, ending a three-day bench trial that played out before a courtroom filled with nearly 30 of the priest’s supporters. The 88-year-old priest took the stand Friday morning and vigorously denied the charges. But the judge said testimony convinced him that the incidents described by the 30-year-old accuser were true — although he concluded that they happened at a different time and place from those described by the accuser.
The man, who lives in Southeast Asia, clasped his mother’s hand as the judge spoke. He left the courthouse immediately with his parents; his mother’s sobs could be heard in the stairwell. The family declined to comment.
In graphic testimony earlier this week, the man testified that the assault occurred in June 2001 after he made a derogatory joke about the priest, saying, “I’ll bet Father Lang drinks all the wine after Mass.” He testified that the priest forced him to undress, photographed him and sexually assaulted him in a church basement.
Judge Tranquilli found the priest guilty of one felony —
unlawful contact with a minor. He also convicted the priest of five misdemeanors — one count of indecent exposure, three counts of indecent assault and a count of corruption of the morals of a minor.
“I cannot say that Father Lang is a career pedophile because I do not believe that to be the case,” the judge said. “The court has had some sleepless nights during this case.”
Though the accuser testified that the assault occurred during a three-day camp for altar boys, the judge said he had concluded that it instead happened later in June 2001, during a youth Bible camp that ended with a trip to Idlewild, a Westmoreland County amusement park.
On the witness stand Friday morning, Father Lang denied that he molested anyone.
“I never abused a parent or a kid — emotionally, physically or intellectually,” said the cleric, who served as superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Pittsburgh during the 1980s. He was a priest in residence at St. Anne in Castle Shannon until August 2018. He is on administrative leave, pending resolution of the criminal charges.
Questioned by his lawyer, J. Kerrington Lewis, the priest acknowledged that he was in charge at St. Therese but insisted that he was not present for the three-day camp for boys training to be altar servers.
“I never participated in the camp for altar servers,” he said. “In my 18 years at St. Therese, we never had a picnic lunch.” The accuser said the assault took place at the altar server camp and said that he remembered that the children were served a picnic of hot dogs and potato chips outside.
But during cross-examination by prosecutor Gregory F. Stein, Father Lang testified that the parish also ran a summer vacation youth camp in June, held a week after the altar server camp. The second camp, Father Lang said, ended with a trip to Idlewild.
The judge said testimony convinced him that after the then-11-year-old’s remarks about Father Lang drinking the wine, “someone with a big mouth” relayed it to the priest, who led the boy “to the then-deserted basement and committed various acts in that basement.” The judge recalled that the accuser’s father testified Friday that initially, his son was eager to go to Idlewild, but inexplicably changed his mind.
The judge said the accuser’s specific memories jibed with what took place at the youth Bible camp but not at the altar server camp. He noted that another priest who served at St. Therese, Father Nick Mastrangelo, testified that the youth Bible camp students were served hot dogs outside in the parking lot — the scenario recalled by the accuser in his testimony.
The accuser testified that he later went to confession with Father Lang, who asked him if he had told anyone. The accuser testified that the priest reminded him he still had the nude photo of the boy, which the boy feared anyone seeing and ensured his silence.
Two key exhibits presented by the prosecution, the judge said, revealed Father Lang’s “consciousness of guilt.”
On July 29, 2018, the date of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s grand jury report about sexual abuse by priests in Pennsylvania, Father Lang searched for “Pittsburgh criminal attorneys/Justin Ketchel law’’ and for a website, ”Myattorneygalaxy.com.”
On Aug. 14, 2018, Mr. Shapiro held a televised news conference. The next day, Father Lang’s iPad revealed searches for “attorney general sex abuse report,” “pedophile,” and “homosexuality definition.”
Judge Tranquilli said he believed that “Father Lang was searching for attorneys because he was concerned that his name was one of the names redacted” from the grand jury report. Eight names were redacted.
Before the trial began Wednesday, Father Lang rejected a plea bargain. He also insisted on a bench trial instead of a jury trial, said Mr. Lewis.
Judge Tranquilli allowed the priest to remain free on bond due to his advanced age and the fact that he has appeared in court when required. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6.
After the verdict, Mr. Lewis said, “The judge found that it happened at a time different than when the accuser said it happened. I’m very disappointed.”