MILWAUKEE, April 17 (UPI) -- The Milwaukee District Attorney's office said it wouldn't file molestation charges against a Catholic priest because it couldn't prove elements of a crime.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, however, said the Rev. Robert Marsicek, 71, is on leave from his duties as pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Wauwatosa, Wis., and Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish in Milwaukee, pending an investigation by his order, the Society of the Divine Savior, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday.
Marsicek also was the overseer of Our Mother of Good Counsel's school as well as Wauwatosa Catholic School.
A California parish announced last weekend that Marsicek is accused of sexually abusing two children in one family when he served at Divine Savior Parish in Orangevale.
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The Sacramento diocese said Catholic Church officials in Milwaukee had known for 10 months that Marsicek was under investigation on suspicion of molesting two children in California.
Marsicek wasn't suspended from his duties at two Milwaukee schools and parishes until a new accusation surfaced last month at a Wauwatosa school, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the Diocese of Sacramento, however, said his organization in May 2012 notified the Milwaukee diocese, Marsicek's order and lawyers for both organizations.
Marsicek, as a matter of the Milwaukee diocese's policy, wasn't restricted from his duties because such steps might have compromised the Sacramento investigation, said archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski and Divine Savior Provincial and National Vocations Director the Rev. Joseph Rodrigues.
"You can't just remove a guy without telling him why. And if you tell him why, does he have an opportunity to start building a defense? Could he flee, try to pressure people? It's a huge balancing act," said Topczewski.
