Priest implicated in feds’ kid porn probe

A Forest Hills priest was put on administrative leave after federal investigators revealed that the clergyman was being questioned in a child pornography probe.

Monsignor Michael Dempsey, 77, a resident pastor at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, was barred from performing his duties as a priest after officials at the Diocese of Brooklyn learned of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation late last month.

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Dempsey has been a high profile figure in the diocese. He helped found the Catholic Church’s Prayer Channel, now called NET, in 1966.

The influential priest was honored in June when the network named their new chapel after him during a ribbon cutting ceremony.

“You are undoubtedly aware of the deep suffering and hurt that surround any matter of child abuse, especially when allegations involve a member of the clergy,” Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said in a letter to Our Lady parishioners. “It can damage — often irreparably — the innocence, the trust and the reputations of all who are in any way affected by it.”

Queens’ top bishop urged anyone who believes he or she was a victim of clergy sex crimes to report the information to the church’s sex abuse hotline at 1 (888) 634-4499.
—Michael Lanza

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