Pewaukee priest accused of groping a teenager in a confessional released on $10,000 bond

A Pewaukee priest accused of groping a teenage congregant in a confessional has been released on bond and is scheduled to reappear in court in November for a preliminary hearing.

The Rev. Chuck Hanel, 61, appeared Oct. 15 in Waukesha County Circuit Court and signed a $10,000 signature bond, court records show. He was released on condition that he have no contact with the accuser or her family, no unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 18 "in the context of his employment" and was ordered to surrender his passport.

Hanel stands accused of second-degree sexual assault of a child. A 14-year-old girl reported to police in April that Hanel touched her breast and leg in a confessional at Queen of Apostles Church in December 2017, when she was 13.
continue at JS

Ban face-to-face confessions. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree; bringing back the confessional box would seem to eliminate any possibility of inappropriate actions or accusations. I wonder why face-to-face was ever thought to be a good idea?

acardnal said...

One more reason to prohibit face-to-face confession!