Former priest, ex-teacher charged with sex assault of minor in Delaware diocese in mid-1990s

WILMINGTON, Del. (OSV News) — An 80-year-old former priest of the Diocese of Wilmington and a 57-year-old ex-teacher in local Catholic schools have been charged with sexual abuse of a minor in the mid-1990s, the Delaware attorney general announced in a news release March 17.

John Taggart, who resigned from the diocese more than two decades ago, and Christopher Crisona, are charged with several felonies following an investigation into allegations of abuse at St. Thomas the Apostle school and rectory in Wilmington, as well as other locations.

Now-deceased Father John Francis O’Brien was also identified as an abuser, according to the attorney general.

Taggart and Crisona have been arrested on multiple charges of sexual abuse occurring between 1994 and 1996, according to the attorney general. Crisona was placed on administrative leave March 10 from his job as a first-grade teacher at Andover Elementary with the Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Fla., according to the school district. He has been employed there since August 2008.

“The state’s indictment alleges a pattern of gravely serious abuse against a juvenile by two adults in a position of trust,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in the news release. “As prosecutors, and as parents, these kinds of cases keep us up at night — but they also give us purpose. … (The survivor) suffered profound trauma over a period of years and deserves justice. I’m grateful to the police, prosecutors and social workers who have been critical to this investigation and who are committed to getting justice.”

Taggart was identified following an anonymous report to the Diocese of Wilmington, and subsequent Wilmington Police Department investigation, regarding alleged sexual abuse by Taggart and the late Father O’Brien. The investigation found evidence that Taggart repeatedly abused a young person during their seventh and eighth grade years at St. Thomas, and continued after the survivor left St. Thomas and began high school, according to the attorney general.

“In keeping with policy, the Diocese of Wilmington has been and will continue to cooperate with the Delaware Attorney General’s Office,” a diocesan statement said about the investigation.

Taggart was a priest at St. Thomas the Apostle from 1987 to 1998. In January 1999 he was sent to St. John the Apostle in Milford, and in January 2001 was sent to St. Helena’s in Wilmington. Taggart resigned from active ministry in 2004 and currently lives in Georgia.

The investigation also uncovered allegations of abuse of the same person by Crisona, a teacher at St. Thomas the Apostle School, according to the state prosecutor. Crisona worked as a teacher at St. Thomas for the 1994-1995 school year and part of the 1995-1996 school year. He was removed mid-year following a student complaint, later working at St. Matthew’s in Wilmington (1999), Corpus Christi (1999), and St. Hedwig’s (2000). He currently works as an elementary school teacher in Florida, the state prosecutor said.

Taggart is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of dangerous crime against a child, two counts of third-degree unlawful sexual penetration, four counts of first-degree unlawful sexual intercourse and second-degree unlawful sexual contact.

Crisona is charged with second-degree unlawful sexual contact, three counts of first-degree unlawful sexual intercourse, third-degree unlawful sexual penetration, second-degree unlawful sexual contact and continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Mat Marshall, a spokesperson for the Delaware attorney general said both men are in custody, Taggart in Georgia and Crisona in Florida, awaiting extradition. He said the two will be arraigned upon arrival to Delaware and would be able to petition the court for bail.

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