AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Police in Austin, Texas, arrested a 74-year-old Roman Catholic priest on suspicion of groping a 16-year-old boy in a movie theater.
Police said the boy was sitting alone in the theater last Friday, when the priest sat next to him even though there were plenty of other empty seats, reports the Austin American-Statesman. An hour into the movie, the priest allegedly reached over and groped the teenager, police alleged.
They said the boy ran from the theater and told the manager, who called police. The priest was released from the county jail after posting bail.
St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, where the priest was serving, has removed him from active ministry until the case is resolved, a bishop said.
The Diocese of Austin is also conducting an internal investigation, the newspaper reported. The diocese said the accused, who has no history of sexual abuse, became a priest in 1999 after his wife died.
