wfn.org | NY Clergyman's Conviction Overturned

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (359
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Note 357 by UMNS on Sept. 30, 1997 at 12:26 Eastern (2784 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Bloom					545(10-21-71B){357}
		New York (212) 870-3803			Sept. 30, 1997

New York court overturns
conviction of clergyman

 
	NEW YORK (UMNS) -- The conviction of a United Methodist clergyman found
guilty in a 1986 child sexual abuse case has been overturned by the Appellate
Division of the New York Supreme Court.
	The indictment against the Rev. Nathaniel Grady, Sr. -- who served more than
10 years in prison before being released in July, 1996, pending an appeal --
also has been dismissed and the records of his case sealed, according to Joel
Rudin, his attorney.
	"In the eyes of the law, he's now as innocent as he has always been in the
eyes of those who know him," Rudin said during a Sept. 29 press conference at
Christ United Methodist Church here.
	Grady was 46 years old and a respected Bronx pastor when charges of rape,
sexual abuse and sodomy of five boys and girls at a day care center attached
to his church were brought against him in 1984.
	His case was one of five initiated at the time against workers at city-funded
day care centers by Mario Merola, the then-Bronx district attorney. Since
then, Merola's methods and political ambitions have been called into question,
along with the lack of conventional evidence. Convictions in the other four
cases all were overturned on appeal.
	"Sometimes the law catches up with common sense," said Rudin, who served as
attorney on four of the five appeals.
	Flanked by his wife Pearl, United Methodist Bishop Ernest Lyght of the New
York Area and a number of clergy supporters, Grady thanked God for "setting
the prisoner free" and expressed his gratitude for the support of his wife and
family, the church and his attorney.
	Although he admitted to periods of despair over his 13-year ordeal, "I always
believed that sooner or later I would be vindicated.
	"I'm not bitter," he said. "I'm not angry, because out of the experience I
learned so much about those men and women who are in prison in this state."
	Grady, who worked as a chaplain while incarcerated, currently is building a
program to connect the church with ex-offenders. He also has preached in about
80 pulpits since his release.
	As witnessed by their presence, members of the United Methodist New York
Annual (regional) Conference never gave up on him. The news of the appellate
court's unanimous decision "causes us to rejoice and give thanks," Lyght said.
"Together, we have trusted in a God of mercy and justice."
	Wright credited the Rev. Lloyd Dees, one of Grady's colleagues, with keeping
Grady's plight before the conference. Dees, in turn, thanked the Rev. John
Carrington, head of the United Methodist City Society, for putting up the bail
when Grady was released in 1996.
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