A Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Greensburg pleaded no contest Monday to charges of sexually assaulting an altar boy multiple times between 2004 and 2007 at a Fayette County church, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.
Andrew Kawecki, 66, was charged by state AG’s office in August 2020 with multiple offenses after he was accused of assaulting the boy beginning when he was 11 years old at SS. Cyril and Methodius Church in Fairchance.
According to the AG’s office, Kawecki forced sexual encounters with the victim for three years in the back room of the church, where Kawecki prepared before Mass.
At Monday’s pre-trial conference, which was presided over by Fayette County Common Pleas Judge Linda Cordova, Kawecki pleaded to indecent assault, which will also require him to register as a sex offender for 10 years under Megan’s Law, according to the attorney general’s office.
“Kawecki’s plea today is a confirmation that we will always hold anyone who abuses children accountable,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in a release. “We prosecute these cases because we have a duty to protect children, empower survivors to reclaim their own voice, and seek justice to move forward with the lives still in front of them. No coverup is too complete, no institution too powerful, to stop us from doing our job.”
Mr. Shapiro’s office said Kawecki was identified following the release of the landmark 2018 grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse, but was not named within the report, which has since generated more than 2,000 tips to the AG’s office. Kawecki was arrested on Aug. 26, 2020.
In May 2019, the Diocese of Greensburg said that Kawecki had been placed on leave pending investigation of an allegation. At the time, he had been a priest at St. John the Baptist Church in Scottdale and at St. Joseph Church in Everson.
The alleged victim, now an adult, told investigators that Kawecki instructed him to arrive early for altar duty and often had him stay late, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Special Agent Stephen Adametz of the attorney general’s office. It was during those times the alleged abuse occurred, according to the affidavit.
The alleged victim said that on multiple occasions, the priest required the boy to masturbate him, and that one time he forced the boy to perform oral sex on him, according to the affidavit.
The alleged victim’s parents told investigators that their son had enjoyed serving as an altar server for the predecessor of Kawecki and that he was a “happy go lucky kid, involved in sports.” Afterward, he became subject to “rage, depression, chemical dependency and eventually several suicide attempts.”
Kawecki will be sentenced in January.
First Published: October 25, 2021, 4:51 p.m.
Updated: October 25, 2021, 4:51 p.m.
