projo.com
7:26 AM Wed, Aug 17, 2011
News staff 
Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The head of the Roman Catholic church in Providence has removed a Westerly deacon accused of exposing himself to drivers on Interstate 95.
Robert Alessio, 70, is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 31 on a count of disorderly conduct in South Kingstown District Court. He was released on personal recognizance.
Alessio is the second deacon to be arrested this month.
Last Wednesday, 71-year-old Laurence Gagnon, a former West Warwick deacon, was arraigned on three counts of second-degree child molestation.
The Westerly Sun reports that state troopers arrested Alessio on Friday after responding to a report of a man masturbating in the woods near the weight station on Exit 4 in Richmond.
Bishop Thomas Tobin has revoked Alessio’s faculties, saying news that another permanent deacon of the Providence diocese has been arrested for allegedly engaging in illegal and immoral activity “is a source of profound sadness for me and the entire church.”
It was not immediately clear whether Alessio has a lawyer.
– With Journal staff reports
_______________________
Westerly church deacon charged with indecent exposure
thewesterlysun.com
Posted: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 6:13 pm | Updated: 5:56 pm, Wed Aug 17, 2011.
By CHRIS KEEGAN / Sun Staff
WESTERLY – A deacon at a local Roman Catholic church has been removed from his job, following allegations that he exposed himself to passing motorists on Interstate 95 last week.
Rhode Island State Police charged Robert G. Alessio, 70, of 109 Quannicut Road, Westerly, with disorderly conduct – indecent exposure on Friday, after troopers responded to the weigh station near Exit 4 in Richmond.
Cpl. Brian Montminy said police received several calls from motorists about a man allegedly masturbating in the woods. Alessio had stopped his car at the weigh station and was alone, he said.
“You could see him from the parking area, pants down and self-exposed,” Montminy said.
Alessio is the former business manager and permanent deacon at Immaculate Conception Church on High Street, and has been working at St. Clare Church in Misquamicut for about a month.
Father Ken Suibielski, who heads St. Clare’s, deferred comment to Mike Guilfoyle, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. Guilfoyle acknowledged Alessio has been removed from his post at the church and released a prepared statement from the Diocese.
“The news that another permanent deacon of the Diocese of Providence has been arrested for allegedly engaging in illegal and immoral activity is a source of profound sadness for me and for the entire church in the Diocese,” Bishop Thomas J. Tobin said in the statement. “This situation will be handled promptly in accordance with the strict norms of the law of the Church. At the same time, I will pray for healing and peace for Deacon Alessio, his family and friends, and all the members of the parishes where he has served.”
Alessio was arraigned Friday at the Hope Valley barracks and released. He is scheduled to appear in Fourth Division District Court on Aug. 31.
A woman who picked up the phone at Alessio’s home this morning declined comment.