Priest abuse: Pennsylvania pastor in Allentown faces criminal charges

 A Roman Catholic priest was charged Tuesday with groping a 17-year-old girl and sending her nude images of himself, just a week after a Pennsylvania grand jury reported the church had covered up decades of priests' child molestation across the state.

The charges of felony corruption of minors and misdemeanor indecent assault against the Rev. Kevin Lonergan, 30, a Pottstown, Pennsylvania, native who most recently served as pastor at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Siena in Allentown, were not a result of the landmark grand jury investigation but stemmed from a complaint filed in June after the grand jury had finished its work, authorities said.

This is at least the second case of possible priest abuse being investigated in the Allentown Diocese since the grand jury finished its report, which identified 301 “predator priests” in a half dozen Pennsylvania dioceses going back to the 1940s.

Authorities have charged just two priests as a result of the grand jury investigation, including a priest who has since pleaded guilty.

Priest abuse: Pennsylvania pastor in Allentown faces criminal charges