One-time Lansing priest pleads guilty to sexual assault
FLINT — A former Catholic priest who worked at two Lansing parishes pleaded guilty this week to a single count of first degree criminal sexual conduct in a case involving a Burton child.
Vincent DeLorenzo, 84, formerly of Flint, and then of Marion County, Florida, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Genesee County Circuit Court.
DeLorenzo’s sentencing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 13. Through a plea agreement, the Michigan Attorney General's Office said he will be sentenced to five years probation, the first of which will be served in the Genesee County Jail.
He also must register as sex offender, undergo sex offender counseling and pay restitution. All of DeLorenzo's victims will have an opportunity to provide an impact statement at the time of sentencing.
DeLorenzo was among the first five priests charged by Nessel in late May 2019, according to a press release. He pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy following a service he officiated for the boy’s deceased family member in 1987 at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, near Flint.
In exchange for his guilty plea, additional charges were dismissed. He originally was charged with three counts of first-degree CSC and three of second-degree CSC. Those charges were connected to the sexual assault of a child from 1995-2000 while the boy was a student at Holy Redeemer's former school.
DeLorenzo was ordained in 1965 and removed from the ministry in 2002, according to the Diocese of Lansing's list of credibly accused priests. During his career, he worked at St. Thomas Aquinas in East Lansing and St. Casimir in Lansing, but time periods are not included. He also worked at St. Joseph and St. Augustine in Kalamazoo, St. Pius X in Flint, and St. Robert Bellarmine in Flushing.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Former St. Casimir, St. Thomas Aquinas priest pleads in Burton CSC case
