Priest Arrested and Charged in VA Also Served in NH

On August 31 the New Hampshire Union Leader reported that Rev. Felix Owino, a priest that served as the chaplain at New Hampshire college, was charged last month for sexual assaulting an 11-year-old girl.

Two activist organizations confirmed the charges.  Rev. Owino was arrested in Herndon, VA.. A spokesperson for Fairfax County police said that Owino was a longtime friend of the alleged victim and her family.

New Hampshire college said that Owino, a member of the Africa-based Apostles of Jesus missionary order, served as chaplain of Magdalen College in Warner from June 2005 to October 2008.

Offices of the Diocese of Manchester were picketed on August 30 by both the New Hampshire Voice of the Faithful and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.  The two groups were demanding that the Diocese increase their efforts in finding other victims of abuse in the Granite State.

Kevin Donovan, Diocesan spokesman, said that there are no allegations against Owino involving sexual abuse of a minor in New Hampshire, and offered, "We've reached out to the college to offer pastoral and counseling support."

Jim Van Damme, Magdalen college spokesman, said that they hadn't received a single complaint against Owino for the entire time he worked there as a part-time teacher.  Van Damme stated that, "He was an excellent teacher and a pious priest" to the school's current 68-member student body.

Besides Magdalen, Owino also taught philosophy at Wheeling Jesuit University and had served as an associate pastor at St. Paul Parish in Weirton, both in West Virginia.  He was on his summer break at the time of his arrest.

Pending the outcome of his trial in Virginia, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has suspended Owino. 

Activist Carolyn Disco has asked the diocese, and Magdalen college, to contact both former and present students that attended the college the same time that Owino did.  She stated, "We are well within the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.  That's not to say there's something here."

The New Hampshire Union Leader has found no mention of Owino, or any other priest, that has been accused of sex crimes on the diocesan website. Donovan responded by saying, "We don't put up (information about) specific priests. This priest was never assigned a ministry in a New Hampshire parish."

As most victims don't report abuse, Disco stated, the advocate groups are asking the dioceses to do a much more proactive job in locating, and helping, potential victims. She contends that Bishop John B. McCormick has an inadequate record, "It's about outreach. You do more than just a one paragraph boilerplate (notice)."

Bishop McCormick had already submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict 16^th earlier this month.  While waiting for the replacement bishop to be named, McCormack has continued as the leader for the New Hampshire Catholics.

Donovan has stated that Bishop McCormick did not oversee the small private Catholic college.  All McCormick did was confirm that Owino was a priest in good standing with his order.

Donovan also contended that any allegations of child-sex crimes involving an outside priest would be reported to the proper authorities.

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