Giuliani's loyalty to an accused priest

In an interview with Salon, former St. Pius X student Richard Tollner, now 48, confirms that he is one of the alleged victims who testified before the grand jury -- the one who allegedly told Priest F "Don't ever fucking touch me again." He also confirms that Placa is Priest F. Tollner claims Placa molested him and at least two others, but when he told school authorities at the time, he says nothing happened. "No one contacted my family or me," Tollner, now 48, recalls. "I told another priest while I was on a retreat and he said he would explore it and he never did." So far none of the alleged victims besides Tollner has come forward publicly. Placa has denied Tollner's allegations and has referred to the former St. Pius X student as "troubled."

More than four years after the release of the report, Placa remains on administrative leave, as confirmed by Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the diocese. Dolan said he believed there was still an investigative process under way but that he didn't know its status. "You probably have to try to contact [Placa]. I'm not in a position to know that." He added that he didn't think there was a limit to administrative leave. "It can go on indefinitely. I believe that's at the discretion of the bishop."

The church has instituted guidelines for handling allegations of sexual abuse since the Boston scandal, directing that a review board made up mostly of laypeople investigate claims. According to Jim Dwyer, former director of media relations for the Archdiocese of Chicago and current director of public information for the Diocese of Phoenix, if a diocese investigates a priest for sexual abuse and determines that there is "reasonable cause to suspect" that the charges are true, the priest would be "permanently removed from ministry." "It's a lower threshold than in criminal cases," stated Dwyer.

The status of priests who are still under investigation, however, is up to the individual diocese. Dwyer said it was possible for administrative leave to go on for a long period -- "weeks, months, more than a year" -- but that he was "unaware" of any administrative leave that had lasted five years. "But I can imagine a situation where it might." Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, also thought the duration of Placa's leave was out of the ordinary. "If someone's on leave for five years, it's a little unusual. Normally, if someone goes on leave it's for a short period, about six months, which is renewable."

While Placa is on leave, he is employed elsewhere. In August 2002, after his suspension but prior to the release of the grand jury report, he took a job with Giuliani Partners. There is no public record, however, of what that job entails.

Since the first accusations against Placa surfaced, Giuliani has defended his childhood friend. In June 2002, he insisted that "Alan Placa is one of the finest people I know." In addition to the statement from Mindel to Salon reiterating the ex-mayor's support for Placa, Mindel offered two former St. Pius X students to speak in Placa's defense. Kevin McCormack, who attended St. Pius X while Placa was teaching there and graduated in 1978, dismisses talk of abuse. He claims he never heard of any molestation complaints and adds that the student body was so small that word would have gotten around. "I find the allegations very difficult to believe," says McCormack, now a principal at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. "There was never anything like that that was rumored."

Kevin Way, also a 1978 grad, agreed. "I can't imagine it," says Way, now an attorney. "I find it utterly incredible."

Placa still officially lives at the rectory at St. Aloysius Church in Great Neck, where he continues to be listed as priest in residence. The victims' advocacy group Voice of the Faithful of Long Island held protests outside of St. Aloysius in 2005 and distributed leaflets to show its objection to Placa's involvement there. Says Phil Megna, co-chair of Voice of the Faithful, "His claim to fame is that he bragged of his ability to get things pushed under the rug."

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the issue of whether a priest on administrative leave could live on church property was a diocesan decision. Dwyer of the Diocese of Phoenix said that in his experience it was possible for a priest on administrative leave for sexual abuse allegations to be a "priest in residence" at a church as well, as long as there was no contact with children. In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, however, spokesman Todd Tamberg said that archdiocesan policy would prevent a priest on administrative leave for allegations of sexual abuse from being a "priest in residence. "If you've been put on administrative leave you not only are restricted from functioning as a priest or dressing as a priest but also from living on church property."

It is unclear, however, how much Placa is "in residence." In late 2005, a few months after the Voice of the Faithful's protests, he purchased a penthouse apartment in the Regatta, a condominium building on South End Avenue in Manhattan. According to documents filed with the City of New York, Placa co-owns the 650-square-foot, $550,000 apartment with Brendan Riordan, the pastor of St. Aloysius. They are cited as "joint tenants with right of survivorship" in a condominium unit assignment agreement signed on Dec. 5, 2005. Giuliani spokeswoman Mindel confirmed that Riordan and Placa co-own the apartment and said that Placa stays there "on occasion," but that it is an investment property and he lives primarily at the rectory. She said that Riordan "never stays there."

Placa and Riordan -- who also attended Helen Giuliani's funeral -- have known each other for more than 30 years. Both taught at St. Pius X in the late 1970s, and both worked within the Diocese of Rockville Centre for most of their careers. Together they wrote a book called "Desert Silence: A Way of Prayer for an Unquiet Age" in 1977.

Since the late 1980s, the two men have owned six different properties in New York and Florida in common. From 1991 to 1998, while Riordan was pastor of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Deer Park, N.Y., and Placa was vice chancellor of the diocese, Placa was also priest in residence at Saints Cyril and Methodius. Both men are listed as living at the church rectory in public documents. According to the Official Catholic Directory, Riordan had moved to St. Aloysius in Great Neck as pastor by Jan. 1, 1999; Placa has been listed as priest in residence at St. Aloysius since 1999.

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