wfn.org | Long Island issues report on Pentho

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

June 6, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1780
Long Island issues report on Penthouse allegations of sexual misconduct
by clergy 

by James Solheim
   (ENS) After months of interviews into allegations of sexual
misconduct by clergy in the Diocese of Long Island, an investigation
team has issued a 22-page report that attempts to separate truth from
fiction, confirming some allegations but disputing others.
   The lurid allegations appeared in Penthouse magazine's December
issue, in an article called, "The Boys from Brazil." The magazine alleged
that it had uncovered a "secret cadre of gay and bisexual cross-dressing
Episcopal priests whose private lives include the most bizarre rituals
imaginable." It specifically alleged that the Rev. William Lloyd Andries,
at the time rector of St. Gabriel's Church in Brooklyn, imported young
men from Brazil and other countries for sexual purposes and that he
"married" one of them, Jairo Pereira. The article also alleges that he and
other clergy participated in sexual orgies in churches, occasionally while
wearing religious vestments, with Pereira and another Brazilian,
Wasticlinio Barros.
   The investigation was requested by a diocesan convention last
November. Bishop Orris Walker of Long Island asked Bishop O'Kelley
Whitaker, the retired bishop of Central New York, to supervise the
investigation, joined by Richard Brewer, chair of the Standing
Committee, a lay reader, J. Vincent Welch, and counsel James O'Rorke,
Jr. The report was mailed to lay and clergy leaders on June 10.

Sorting out the facts
   After 32 interviews, a visit to St. Gabriel's and reports from private
investigators in the New York City area and in Brazil, the investigation
team established a detailed chronology of events that disputes many of
the allegations by the magazine but also confirms some of them. The
chronology lays out how Andries and the Rev. Howard Williams,
formerly a member of the national Episcopal Church staff, met Pereira
during a meeting in Brazil in 1992, how Williams met Barros on a later
trip, and how first Barros and later Pereira traveled to the United States.
Andries provided housing to both the men and financial assistance to
Pereira, while Williams helped arrange assistance for Barros' travel.
   The Penthouse article makes no allegations that Williams participated
in any of the sexual activities. Williams was asked to resign his position
after being mentioned in the article. 
   Andries visited Brazil five times, the team discovered, often staying
with the family of Pereira, with whom he developed an intimate
relationship. On two occasions he sent funds to help the family build or
buy a house.
   Pereira was baptized at St. Gabriel's in January of 1996 and he and
Barros, the report contends, began to insist on a "marriage" with
Andries. A "commitment ceremony" took place at the rectory on April
16 but "the brief service had no Eucharist and no blessing was given." 
   While Andries was having surgery in May, Pereira and Barros
moved out of the rectory and contacted the media with their story and
some sexually explicit photographs they had taken from the rectory. On a
Brazilian television program the two men talked openly about their
allegations and Barros "describes plainly his plan to entrap Andries," the
report notes. 

Andries denies relationship
   In the wake of the television program, Andries denied rumors of a
"marriage" and of a homosexual relationship with Pereira but it soon was
clear that an investigative reporter, Rudy Maxa, was working on an
article, although Maxa would not identify the publication.
   After the magazine hit the stands on October 23, Andries met with
the vice chancellor of the diocese and agreed to renounce his orders and
resign his parish.
   The investigation also looked into the possibility that "funds
belonging to parishes or to the agencies.... were used in connection with
any of the activity related in the Penthouse article. An audit revealed that
some diocesan discretionary funds were used but the audits raised some
questions "which will require continued research."
   
Reaching conclusions
   In its conclusions, the investigating team pointed out that Andries
had "offered strong leadership and had a productive ministry at St.
Gabriel's" and that the people in the parish, "many with strong
Caribbean roots, responded well to the strong and charismatic leadership
of Andries." Testimony revealed, however, that he was not honest with
them about his sexuality, that "throughout his adult life Andries has
privately been an active homosexual with numerous partners over the
years, some of whom were parishioners" and one of them might have
been a minor. It also became clear from interviews that he "gathered
around himself a number of men who were either homosexual or bisexual
themselves or, at least, tolerant of his lifestyle."
   The investigation confronted the allegation that "sexual rituals and
orgies took place in sacred spaces." Through its examination of the site
of St. Gabriel's Church, and from testimony received, the team
concludes that it would have been "very difficult for such activities to
have taken place without being observed by others." Most of the church
windows have plain glass and the interior is visible from neighboring
buildings, the report said. And they found no evidence that Andries or
others "engaged in sexual activity while wearing church vestments."

Still seeking a settlement
   An attorney for Barros and Pereira met with members of the
investigation team, showed them additional photos and sought a
settlement from the diocese and compensation as a condition for
permitting interviews with the men. The diocese has not agreed to a
settlement or compensation.
   In a more recent article that appeared in a Brazil newspaper, Barros
claimed that he was being harassed by four priests, including Andries and
Williams, and was under police protection. He also said that he was
writing a book which would exposes 22 priests, and was seeking $5
million in a suit from the Episcopal Church. 
   "At the date of this report, none of the allegations could be
substantiated except that there is no such legal action pending against the
church," the report stated. "Evidence does exist, however, that Barros
has made attempts in the recent past to interest publishers in a book
being written by him entitled Bless Me Father. Investigation of these
allegations is continuing."

While the debate continues...
   In closing, the report said that "there has been behavior on the part
of Andries and some of his friends that has provided foundation for the
development of these allegations." While it is clear that "the Episcopal
Church is currently embroiled in a sharp debate over the appropriateness
of blessing same-sex unions and the ordination of persons who are in
life-long commitments with persons of the same sex," the report said that
there are areas of general agreement. "The Episcopal Church has no
disagreement on the inappropriateness of married persons being involved
in sexual relationships with persons other than their spouse, nor of
predatory sex, nor of sex with minors, nor of sex apart from committed
relationships--whether heterosexual or homosexual--nor of members of
the clergy engaging in sexual relations with persons with whom they have
a pastoral relationship."
   The report ends on a note of regret that they were not able to find
any evidence that "those who knew of Andries' sexual behavior,
including those who had authority over him, reprimanded him or even
brought the inappropriateness of it to his attention."

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