Sex Abuse Claim Against Former Bayside Priest Deemed Credible

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Local Catholic church leaders have found two credible allegations that a retired Bayside priest sexually abused minors back in the 1970s.

The Brooklyn diocese removed Rev. Charles White, 79, from public ministry after its review board investigated claims that he had sexually abused children while he served at the American Martyrs Church in Bayside, according to a Tuesday press release.

"The Diocesan officials believe that the allegations may be true," church leaders said in a statement.

White will not be allowed to celebrate Mass publicly, live in a parish residence or exercise any public ministry as a result of the review board's findings.

The Diocese of Brooklyn, which also serves Queens, received an allegation last year that White had sexually abused a minor from 1974 to 1978, church leaders said. The allegation came from the diocese's confidential hotline for reporting sexual abuse.

While investigating the report, law enforcement officers found another sexual abuse allegation against White from 1999, which the diocese's review board had deemed not credible five years later.

The diocese reopened that case as part of its investigation and found both allegations were credible.

White has since been added to the diocese's online list of credibly accused priests.

In another investigation, the diocese's review board could not corroborate a sexual abuse allegation against retired Queens priest Joseph Nolan, who served at Our Lady of Snows Catholic Church in Glen Oaks in the 1970s, when the misconduct reportedly took place.