A former Wallaceburg priest has been found guilty of three historic sex-related crimes.
57-year-old Gabriele DelBianco was acquitted of all but three of his 18 charges in Sarnia yesterday (Feb. 24.)
DelBianco was found guilty of gross indecency and two counts of sexual assault.
All the charges date back to the 1980s and involved four teenage girls. The charges were laid in April of 2011.
DelBianco was associate pastor at Our Lady Help of Christians in Wallaceburg from 1981 to 1984, and held other positions across Ontario.
At that time of the charges in 2011, the Diocese of London issued a statement about the allegations.
“We are sorry for all of the hurt these and other victims have experienced. We are committed to living up to our responsibilities and obligations to victims of sexual misconduct in the search for justice and truth,” the statement read.
“The victims who have come forward are making a difference and we thank them for doing so. We offer counselling to all victims of sexual misconduct by clergy. We continue to work toward prevention of misconduct in the .”
The Diocese received information about the improper conduct by DelBianco in 1994.
Staying true to policy, he was sent for evaluation at a residential facility and pastoral outreach was extended to the victims.
DelBianco did not return to active ministry and left the priesthood in 1996.
A sentencing hearing is slated for May 14th at 10 a.m in Superior Court in Sarnia.
Blackburn News announed “A former Catholic priest has been acquitted of all but three of 18 sex-related charges in Sarnia’s Superior Court.” That would make him guilty of 15 sex related charges. Which is it really ? 3 or 15 ?
He was found guilty on three charges and acquitted (found not-guilty) on the other 15.
LOL .. I just re-read the quote … My mistake.