Washington D.C., Oct 3, 2019 / 14:33 pm
Former Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston Michael Bransfield is facing an allegation that he touched inappropriately a nine year-old girl during a pilgrimage to Washington, DC, in 2012.
A subpoena was delivered to diocesan authorities in the West Virginia diocese Oct.1. According to a report by the Washington Post, the girl, now 16, alleges that the unelaborated incident took place when she was supposedly left alone in a room with Bransfield in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington during a diocesan-sponsored trip. The complaint was reportedly filed in July of this year.
Bransfield categorically denied the allegations in a phone call with the Washington Post, saying on Thursday, "Oh my God. Oh no, that's horrible."
"That did not happen. Somebody has imagined this. I can't believe it," Bransfield said. "I'm getting attacked from people I don't know."