wfn.org | Episcopal bishop charged with sexual misconduct

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2000-088

Montana bishop charged with sexual misconduct
by Jerry Hames

(Episcopal Life) The bishop of Montana, facing charges 
of immorality and conduct unbecoming a member of the 
clergy, will be tried in an ecclesiastical court in Minneapolis 
in late September.
The presentment against Bishop Charles I. Jones arises from 
allegations of sexual misconduct that included an extramarital 
sexual relationship 17 years ago when he was a priest in 
Kentucky. If found guilty, Jones, 56, who has been bishop 
of Montana's 48 congregations since 1986, could be deposed, 
suspended or admonished.
Nine bishops will sit as trial judges to hear the case brought by 
the church, based on complaints by a former parishioner of Trinity 
Episcopal Church, Russellville, Kentucky, where Jones was 
the rector.
Under Title IV, the church's disciplinary canons, which were 
revised in 1997, a nine-member review committee of bishops, 
priests and lay people investigated the allegations and last year 
filed a "presentment" or indictment. They concluded that, if the 
facts are proven at trial, then there is reasonable cause to believe 
that an offense was committed.
The church indictment is explicit in its description of occasions 
allegedly initiated by Jones with a woman whom he had counseled 
and who was a volunteer parish housekeeper. The offenses, the 
indictment says, began in 1981, when she approached him for 
counseling after a fight with her husband, and continued into early 1983.
The indictment states that in the winter of 1985, before Jones moved to 
Montana, he allegedly told the woman "what the consequences would 
be to her, her marriage and to him if she talked about the relationship."
Jones, through his attorney, said the charges should be dismissed, 
contending that the process is legally flawed. Edward Inman Curry III, 
a Memphis attorney, said the charges in the church's indictment against 
Jones "are merely allegations" that the bishop has denied.
The Rev. Tom Dooling of Dillon, Montana., an adviser to Jones and a 
former lawyer, said on the bishop's behalf that the same charges were 
made seven years ago, leading to an agreement between Jones, 
then-Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning and the Diocese of Montana. 
That included a public acknowledgment of the affair, a psychological 
evaluation and treatment, an offer of apology and amends to the 
complainant and a temporary leave of absence from his duties as bishop, 
Dooling said. Church authorities dispute this account of past events, 
however.
In a pastoral letter to his diocese in late April, Jones said he hopes there 
will be a settlement, but vowed to go to trial if necessary to correct a 
"flawed" and "abusive" canonical process.
Some people familiar with events in the diocese in 1993 said the issues 
between the standing committee and bishop at that time concerned 
Jones' management style and anger and that counseling was related to 
those problems. Earlier, the standing committee met with the bishop 
and a consultant from the Alban Institute in an effort to resolve 
management issues that were dividing the diocese.
The Rev. Carolyn Keil-Kuhr, chair of the standing committee in 1993, 
said the Kentucky affair was not a part of the standing committee's 
deliberations. "We didn't spend much time on it to my recollection. 
The climate at that time was fairly emotional, but I don't think anyone
knew much about the past experience."
Revised canons
By the time the trial begins, more than 30 months will have elapsed 
since the complaint was lodged with the presiding bishop. "Since the 
presentment was filed (in February, 1999), the respondent bishop 
has filed more than a dozen motions to dismiss, all of which have 
been denied and has asked the court to postpone trial dates until 
September," said Edwin G. Hebb, Jr. of Connecticut, the church's 
attorney.
In clarifying the nature of the allegations, Hebb said the 1997 
convention "created a narrow window and a narrow area" when it 
set aside, from January 1 until July 1, 1998, the statute of limitations 
against clergy for cases involving sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, 
or physical abuse, he said.
The revised canons extended to victims the right to lodge complaints. 
Previously, a complaint had to be filed on behalf of a victim by three 
bishops, or by at least 10 clergy and lay people, of which some had 
to reside in the diocese where the alleged offense occurred. The 
woman filed her complaint on Jan. 8, 1998, one week after the new 
canon came into effect.

--Jerry Hames is editor of Episcopal Life, the Episcopal Church's
 national newspaper.