Priest allegedly used job program for sex

CHICAGO, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A Roman Catholic priest in Chicago allegedly used jobs programs for poor teenagers as opportunities for sexual gratification.

The Rev. Terence Fitzmaurice, who served at St. Procopius in the Pilsen neighborhood in the 1970s, ran a parish jobs program. He was also involved with the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program.

Phillip Aaron, a Seattle lawyer representing 15 men who say they were abused by Fitzmaurice as teenagers, told the Chicago Tribune that Fitzmaurice had a clubhouse next to the church. For many teens, it was simply a place to hang out, but for others it was where they were molested, Aaron said.

The archdiocese and the Order of St. Benedict, to which Fitzmaurice belongs, have settled with three of Aaron's clients. The settlement does not include any admission that the men were actually abused as teenagers.

Michael Calvin, now 47, said he came to the church because he heard there were jobs. Although he is not Catholic, he said that even when he realized Fitzmaurice was doing something wrong to him he was concerned with protecting the man who had become his mentor.

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