WV bishop denies abuse allegations - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

WV bishop denies abuse allegations

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -

A West Virginia Roman Catholic bishop is denying sexual abuse allegations made by a witness in a trial of a priest in Philadelphia.

Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael Bransfield said Thursday he's deeply saddened by the child-abuse scandal that's been linked to former colleagues and friends from a Pennsylvania seminary where he graduated in 1971.

A man testified Wednesday in Philadelphia that a priest raped him at a New Jersey home owned by Bransfield and that his accused abuser told him the bishop also sexually abused a boy.

Bransfield says in a statement he was unaware of the alleged incident and wasn't even home at the time.

Bransfield says he's been "unfairly included" in the group of accused priests and calls the allegations "horrific, unbelievable and shocking."

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