“I was just counseling him”: Catholic priest caught with pantless 15-year-old boy (PICTURED)

A Catholic priest in Pennsylvania was
charged with molesting a 15-year-old boy
after cops say he was caught in the act.
Father W. Jeffrey Paulish was allegedly
found with the boy — who was wearing
no pants — in a car on the Penn State
University campus Thursday, CNN reports.

Police say they discovered the 56-year-
old Scranton priest and the boy while
responding to the call of a suspicious
vehicle.

Paulish initially told cops that he was
working on his homily on campus when he
met the boy, who he said was in
emotional distress and needed
counseling. Police say he later admitted
that he met the teen through the “casual
encounters” section of Craigslist.

Paulish said he asked the boy several
times if he was over the age of
18, according to the Times Leader.
“I wish to acknowledge how unsettling
this is to me personally and to countless
others,” Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera
said in a statement published online.
“Upon being notified of this incident, the
cleric was immediately removed from his
assignment and his faculties to exercise
priestly ministry were suspended.”
Diocesan officials are asking that anyone
who may have been sexually abused by
Paulish contact local law enforcement.

Paulish was charged with a felony count of
involuntary deviate sexual intercourse as
well as unlawful contact with a minor. He
was also charged with three misdemeanor
counts: indecent contact with a minor,
indecent exposure and corruption of a
minor. He was held at Lackawanna
County Jail on $50,000 bail.