Global Courant
An 84-year-old Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy in 1987 has been sentenced to one year in Michigan under a plea deal with prosecutors.
The Rev. Vincent DeLorenzo returned to court in Flint on Tuesday, about two months after pleading guilty to attempted criminal sexual conduct.
Other charges were dismissed as part of an agreement that barred victims from testifying at trial, though five people made statements in court about the victim’s impact, the attorney general’s office said.
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“In this case justice has been done for the victims,” said attorney Michael Manley.
Reverend Vincent DeLorenzo, 84, has been sentenced to one year in prison on a sexual assault plea. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)
DeLorenzo did not speak in court. He was charged with assaulting the 5-year-old boy after a funeral for a member of the boy’s family.
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DeLorenzo served in several churches, including three in Genesee County. In 2002, he was suddenly removed from Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, a suburb of Flint. He publicly acknowledged having had “inappropriate sexual contact” with a child years earlier.
However, DeLorenzo was not charged by local authorities. He was living in Florida when prosecutors charged him in 2019. The statute of limitations no longer applied to his case when he left Michigan.
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“The defendant’s acknowledgment of guilt and acceptance of responsibility for the abuse he committed was an important part of this healing process for DeLorenzo survivors,” the attorney general’s office said.
