A retired Catholic priest and former Pennsylvania State Police chaplain is facing charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a person at a home for priests in Unity Township and having an inappropriate relationship with another person.
State police on Friday charged Robert Byrnes, 84, of the Christ Our Shepherd Center, Unity, with aggravated indecent assault without consent, two counts of official oppression and two counts of obstructing administration of law or other governmental function.
According to his arrest papers, the assaults occurred on various occasions.
On one occasion, according to the criminal complaint against him, Byrnes told a victim to perform a sex act as he watched “as a way to be forgiven of sins and as a way of confession through Byrnes’ official capacity as a priest and counselor.”
The Tribune-Review does not identify the alleged victims of sexual assault.
According to the criminal complaint, a man arrived at the Greensburg police barracks on March 24 to report a sexual assault from 12 years ago.
The man said Byrnes assaulted him in May 2014.
According to Byrnes’ arrest papers, he lived at what is now called Christ Our Shepherd Center at the time of the alleged assaults, and still lives there.
Police said another alleged victim was identified through the course of the investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, Byrnes would take that person to various casinos to gamble and later watch him shower.
The person told police Byrnes would furnish him alcohol and there were times when he woke up naked in the priest’s bed.
Police said both victims confronted Byrnes, via recorded phone calls, about his alleged abuse as part of the investigation.
Byrnes reportedly told them to not report things to the police “for the sake of the reputation for the church, the priesthood, for other priests, for my family” and his physical condition.
The complaint states Byrnes suggested to one of the men that therapy would be unhelpful and asked him to allow Byrnes to counsel him.
Police said during these calls and in an interview, Byrnes recalled the alleged sexual assault of the first victim and suggested that it could have been a “gesture of friendship.”
Byrnes reportedly asked the victims to forgive him and to ask God to forgive him.
Byrnes served as chaplain for the Greensburg Police Department for a time starting in 2016, and as chaplain for other groups.
He was released Friday after posting a $250,000 unsecured bond.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 1 before District Judge Mark Mansour.
Online court documents did not list an attorney for Byrnes.
Byrnes could not immediately be reached for comment.
Calls to the center Friday evening were not immediately returned.
According to the Christ Our Shepherd Center website, it “provides facilities for functions that are integral to the life of the Church and its members.”
It was previously known as the Bishop William Connare Center. The decision to strike Connare’s name from the retreat center was made in 2018 at the request of several survivors of priest sexual abuse who said it was troubling to see the name of a bishop accused of covering up abuse on the highway marquee along Route 30, according to a TribLive report at the time.
The name change came in the wake of Aug. 14, 2018, grand jury report that detailed seven decades of priest sexual abuse allegations and cover-ups by church leaders in six dioceses across the state, including Greensburg.