Archdiocesan officials have confirmed that they are preparing the paperwork to ask the Vatican to laicize Father Bryan M. Kuchar following his sentencing last week for sexual abuse of a teenage boy.
Father Kuchar was sentenced to three years in the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton following his conviction by a jury on Aug. 30 of three counts of statutory sodomy. It recommended a year on each count, which Judge John Ross made consecutive.
All charges related to sexual incidents in 1995 when Father Kuchar was an associate pastor at Assumption Parish in South County. The victim is now 23. Father Kuchar, 37, was ordained in 1993.
Since his arrest he has not had the archdiocese’s authorization — known as "faculties" — to function as a priest. An archdiocesan spokesman said Father Kuchar will not be able to act as a priest while in jail.
After the sentencing the archdiocese released this official statement:
"The sentencing today (Nov. 7) of Bryan Kuchar brings to an end the criminal proceedings in the case of the grave sexual abuse of a minor. Now the court has imposed a sentence which it believes to be proportionate to the crime and appropriate to the circumstances.
"We continue to pray for the victim of this tragedy, and for the family, that they will experience the healing power of God and His enduring peace. We also pray for Bryan Kuchar."