Priest turned in another, then was also caught

NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Telegraph

By ALBERT McKEON, Telegraph Staff
mckeona@telegraph-nh.com


A former Hudson priest who was later convicted of sex crimes blew the whistle on another priest, telling the diocese of that man’s alleged behavior with a minor.

The Rev. Stephen Scruton, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Hudson in 1983, told the diocese he saw the Rev. Mark Fleming engaged in a sexual act with a minor at the rectory, according to diocesan files released this week.

A year later, Scruton was arrested at a Londonderry rest area frequented by homosexuals. Those charges were dropped, but he was convicted in 1987 of lewd behavior and indecent exposure at a Marlborough rest area. He had his ministerial duties stripped last year by the diocese for sexual misconduct with minors.

Fleming, the associate pastor in 1983, initially denied sexual conduct with the 11-year-old boy, but then admitted the abuse. He resigned as a diocesan priest in 1986, and avoided criminal prosecution for assaulting three children.