Acting chairman of Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board accused of unwanted contact in Episcopal Church

A woman has accused the acting chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board of making unwanted physical contact with her last year.

Edward Konieczny, a retired Episcopalian bishop, was appointed to the board by Gov. Kevin Stitt in January 2022.

Konieczny cannot comment at this time because of church restrictions, his attorney, Bill Cathcart, said Wednesday.

The woman who made the accusation, Ayala Harris, of Oklahoma, was elected president last year of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies.

In a letter to deputies Aug. 30, she wrote she was physically overpowered by a retired bishop on July 9, 2022, shortly after being elected "to serve as your 34th president."

She described the incident in Baltimore, Maryland, as "unwanted and non-consensual physical contact" that also involved "inappropriate verbal statements." She explained she was speaking out because a church attorney had referred the matter after an investigation "for a pastoral response instead of discipline."

"I find this outcome deeply unsettling," she wrote.

She did not identify the retired bishop in her letter. The current bishop of Oklahoma wrote in a letter Tuesday "it has been reported and confirmed" that it was Konieczny.

"Both President Ayala Harris and Bishop Konieczny are part of our Oklahoma diocese, with strong connections to many. And so we feel this pain acutely in Oklahoma," Bishop Poulson Reed wrote.

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board faced earlier shakeups

The accusation already has touched off a furor in the Episcopal Church, but it also could lead to another shakeup at the Pardon and Parole Board.

The last shakeup came last month when two members left. Both already have been replaced.

Any change to the five-member board is significant because it votes on all death row inmate requests for mercy. The governor has the final say but can only act if the board recommends clemency.

The next clemency hearing is set for Nov. 8.

Stitt appointed Konieczny to succeed Adam Luck, who was then chairman. "He is an inspiring leader with a servant's heart," Stitt said in announcing his appointment.

Luck stepped down at the governor's request because of their differences over the death penalty. Stitt, a Republican, supports capital punishment. Luck had repeatedly recommended clemency for death row inmates.

Stitt reappointed Konieczny to a full four-year term in January.

Konieczny, now 68, retired as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma in January 2021 after more than 13 years in that role. He also is a former police officer, serving from 1975 to 1992 in California, according to a news release about his 2022 appointment. He is married.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board chairman accused of unwanted contact