![](https://i0.wp.com/s.abcnews.com/images/US/abc_news_default_2000x2000_update_16x9_992.jpg?ssl=1)
A jury has discovered a Catholic priest in Tennessee not responsible.
ByThe Related Press
November 20, 2023, 1:39 PM
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — A jury has discovered a Catholic priest in Tennessee not responsible of sexual battery in opposition to a lady who was a church member.
Jurors handed down the decision late final week within the case in opposition to Father Antony Punnackal, who was suspended from his position as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Gatlinburg after being indicted in January 2022 on two counts of sexual battery.
The costs centered on allegations from February 2020 relating to Punnackal’s actions towards the parishioner. A lawsuit by the girl stays lively.
Punnackal has denied any allegations of assault. His lawyer Travis McCarter instructed information retailers in a press release that the priest is a “terrific human being and we’re glad to lastly be capable to present the world that he’s harmless of those accusations.”
An lawyer for the girl pointed to her lawsuit, including in a press release that “a civil case beneath federal trafficking legal guidelines could be very totally different” than a felony case.
The federal lawsuit targets Punnackal, the diocese and a Catholic congregation, alleging that Punnackal dedicated sexual battery when the asylum-seeking mom of three kids got here to him for grief counseling after her little one’s father was killed.
“This case is now stronger than it was every week in the past,” mentioned Andrew Fels, an lawyer for the girl.
Father Doug Owens, delegate to the apostolic administrator within the Diocese of Knoxville, shared information of the decision within the felony case “with nice reduction.”
“The stress Father Punnackal needed to endure within the many months main as much as his trial will need to have been unimaginable, however he at all times maintained his innocence and we’re grateful that the jury heard the testimony, evaluated the proof, and agreed,” Owens mentioned in a press release.
Owens mentioned the diocese will not touch upon the lawsuit “till its destiny might be determined.”