Former priest faces new sex charges

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Niagara Falls Review

Friday, September 25, 2015 12:06:17 EDT PM

Donald Grecco

Police have arrested former Roman Catholic priest Donald Grecco following a lengthy investigation into sexual abuse complaints dating back almost 40 years.

Over the past several months, the Ontario Provincial Police had been investigating incidents said to have occurred between 1977 and 1982 involving a then 10-year-old boy and a 14-year-old male.

Police say the incidents occurred at locations in Niagara Falls, Haldimand County and the United States.

Between 1977 and 1982, Grecco was a priest at St. Thomas More Church in Niagara Falls, St. Kevin’s Church in Welland and St. Stephen’s Church in Cayuga.

Grecco, who lives in the Peel region, has been charged with two counts of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault on a male.

He is scheduled to appear in a Cayuga court on Dec. 8.

Anyone with information on the matter can call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Grecco previously served as a pastor at St. Mary’s in Welland, St. Alexander in Fonthill, St. George’s in Crystal Beach and St. Vincent de Paul in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He was ordained in 1966.

In March 2010, Grecco pleaded guilty to three counts of gross indecency after he sexually abused three teenaged altar boys in the 1970s and parts of the 1980s in Welland and Cayuga.

He was sentenced to 18 months behind bars and two years’ probation.

This story is in development.

1 Response to Former priest faces new sex charges

  1. Mike Fitzgerald says:

    Sylvia;
    Is Grecco’s appearance on Dec. 8 open to the public, and is this appearance just as you say ‘to be spoken to’. Mike.

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