4 Detroit priests accused of sex abuse

DETROIT, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Prosecutors issued arrest warrants Tuesday for four Roman Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing minors.

Prosecutor Michael Duggan said the statute of limitations prevented him from charging 15 other priests, but only one of them remains in the ministry, and he is expected to be removed soon.

The charges were filed against the four following a four-month investigation because they had moved out of state, essentially stopping the clock on the statute of limitations, which requires charges to be brought within six years of an offense.

Duggan encouraged other victims, especially those molested in the 1980s and 1990s, to come forward.

Those charged were identified as the Rev. Robert Burkholder, 83, who retired from the Archdiocese of Detroit and was disciplined by the church in the 1990s; the Rev. Edward Olszewski, 67, who was accused of sexual abuse by his foster son; the Rev. Harry Benjamin, 60, who allegedly admitted to the abuse to archdiocesan officials, and the Rev. Jason Sigler, 64, who is accused of molesting children in New Mexico as well as Michigan.

Duggan described Burkholder, who now lives in Hawaii, as "one of the worst pedophiles we have ever had in this state." Burkholder is suspected of molesting as many as 23 boys, going as far back as 1949. Duggan said Burkholder would tell his alleged victims their bodies were "gifts from God" just before he molested them.

Olszewski faces eight counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He had moved to Florida and was forced to retire in April following his former foster son's allegations. He is accused of molesting a boy between 1971 and 1973 when he was at St. Cecilia in Detroit. The alleged abuse began when the boy was just 11.

Benjamin, who founded a travel agency in Arlington, Va., in 1995, is charged with four counts stemming from overnight trips to St. Jude rectory in Detroit involving a 14-year-old boy and several others. He allegedly fed the boys pizza and beer, then made sleeping assignments, putting the 14-year-old in his bed.

Sigler, who was ordained in Winnipeg, Manitoba, left the priesthood in 1982 and faces multiple counts involving a 12-year-old River Rouge boy. Duggan said Sigler told the boy's parents he was going upstairs to bless the boy at bedtime.

Cardinal Adam Maida called the charges "serious."

"Consistent with the archdiocese's voluntary agreement with our local prosecutors, and following the provisions of the Dallas Charter, what happens next must and will now occur in the legal arena," Maida said in a statement. "I hope and trust that the integrity of that process, wherever its conclusion leads us, is well-preserved. Between now and the final resolution of these matters, I pledge my prayers to all involved, most especially for those who brought these allegations forward."