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Accused priest counseled teens in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – A Denver area Roman Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in the 1970s was a chaplain at St. Mary’s High School in Colorado Springs in 1970 and 1971.

Divine Redeemer Church officials on Sunday announced that the Rev. Mel Thompson was a pastor at the church and assured parishioners that the abuse Thompson is accused of didn’t take place there. On Monday, St. Mary’s Principal John McCord advised parents that yearbooks show Thompson worked at the school, hearing confession from boys and girls and counseling them. The school has received no complaints.

Thompson’s work history shows about a two year gap between his work in Colorado Springs and his reassignment to a Denver’s St. John the Evangelist Church, now called Good Shepherd.


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