A defrocked New York priest “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a minor runs a charity that provides scholarships to Catholic schools for underprivileged children, according to public records.
John J. Voglio, 65, is president of Mary F. Clancy Charities, which was founded in 2000 by another former priest, John Harrington, who was also accused of sexually abusing a minor, according to the Archdiocese of New York.
Voglio frequently mingles with children and teenagers who attend charity events, a member of the organization’s board of directors told NBC News.
“He’s very good with the kids,” Madelaine Cavegn said. “They like him very much.”
Voglio does not mention on the charity’s website that he is a former priest, and he did not return several phone calls seeking comment about his activities.
Voglio has never been charged with a crime so was never required to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts, New York or New Hampshire, all places where he once worked as a priest or brother.
Cavegn, however, acknowledged that she and some of the other board members are aware Voglio used to be a priest.
“I can’t divulge any of that,” Cavegn, 88, responded when asked whether she knew why Voglio had been laicized. “But do you know that he never had a chance to defend himself?”
Cavegn described Voglio as a devoted leader of the charity.
“He’s like a missionary,” Cavegn said. “He is very involved. Before we give out any grants, he conducts all the interviews with the schools.”
Another director on the board, John Crapanzano, said “the charity is very active” and Voglio “is very much involved in the day-to-day operations.”
“We’ve diversified our activities in recent years to include a food pantry in the Bronx to help needy families,” Crapanzano, 77, said. “We also helped build a playground for the kids at a Bronx school.”
David Clohessy, a sex abuse victims advocate at the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said…
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