SIOUX FALLS (SD)
Aberdeen News
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A South Dakota priest who spent time in prison for trying to rape someone was able to continue serving in religious assignments after his release.
Bruce MacArthur, who was ordained in the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, had spent 29 months in prison for trying to rape a disabled nursing home patient. But he was allowed to serve in the church for another 12 years after his 1981 release, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported Sunday.
MacArthur has acknowledged abusing 30 young girls in South Dakota and Wisconsin during his 34 years as a priest. In 1978, he pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault and was sentenced to five years in a Texas prison.
Church officials in Sioux Falls knew about MacArthur’s behavior. In 1963 and again in 1965, then-Bishop Lambert Hoch ordered the priest into treatment programs after receiving reports of molestations.
But MacArthur continued to offend – allegedly raping a girl while he was undergoing treatment in Wisconsin. She has since filed a lawsuit against him and the Sioux Falls diocese.
