wfn.org | Long Island hit by another scandal

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

January 23, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1666
Long Island hit by another scandal as investigation of sexual misconduct
continues

by James Solheim
       (ENS) The investigation of charges in Penthouse magazine that
priests in the Diocese of Long Island engaged in what it called "bizarre"
homosexual rituals in a Brooklyn church are continuing--but now another
scandal has shaken the diocese.
       The Rev. Chester LaRue was arrested at St. John's Church in the
Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn on January 17 and charged with criminal
sale and possession of cocaine. The arrest came three weeks after he was
hailed as a hero for fighting off two bandits at the church. Police now
say that the fight apparently resulted because LaRue was protecting his
supply of drugs.
       According to press reports, police said that LaRue's drug-dealing
was exposed when one of the robbery suspects told them about drugs at
the church. In addition to LaRue, police arrested three other church
employees, including one caught as he was packaging cocaine.

Investigation continues
       The drug scandal comes on the heels of the Penthouse expose in
which two Brazilian men allege that the Rev. William Lloyd Andries of
St. Gabriel's Church imported them to serve as sex partners--and that he
and other priests held homosexual orgies in the church. Andries denied
most of the claims in the article, calling it "a tissue of lies."
       Bishop Orris Walker issued a statement October 28 and said that
"it was imperative that we make every effort to determine the truth of the
assertions to be found in this article." He announced that he was
launching an investigation.
       The November 9 diocesan convention set aside up to $100,000 for
the investigation, which Walker asked Bishop O'Kelley Whitaker, retired
bishop of Central New York, to oversee.
       In a report to the diocesan Standing Committee on January 16,
Whitaker said that he and James F. O'Rorke, a New York lawyer, had
conducted 20 interviews. He expressed his deep appreciation for
O'Rorke's help and assured the Standing Committee of his confidence
with how the investigation was proceeding. Yet he added that the inquiry
had uncovered a more complex picture than anticipated and therefore the
investigation proceeds more slowly. He added that it would be premature
to release anything at this time.
       In the meantime, diocesan officials expressed surprise at evidence
that several men misrepresenting themselves as investigators for the
church have been going house-to-house in the neighborhood around St.
Gabriel's, asking questions about the parish and its former pastor.
Diocesan officials expressed surprise at the development.

Bishop returns from recovery program
       Walker issued a statement to diocesan leaders on January 8,
saying that he had returned from a recovery program in Maryland where
he dealt with his alcohol abuse. He left the diocese in November after
admitting at the diocesan convention that he needed help.
       In his statement, Walker said that initially he "was not thrilled by
the request to enroll" in the recovery program, but that he found his
experience there "a profoundly spiritual one." By the time he left the
facility, he said, he felt that he "had been incorporated into a new
family."
       Since his return to the diocese, Walker said that he has been
involved in "a 12-week therapy program" and also "an intensive series of
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings." He said that he was grateful "to
experience the concern that others in recovery had for one another."

--James Solheim is director of news and information for the Episcopal
Church.