Detroit-area priest gets 45 days in jail for assaulting man

WESTLAND, Mich. — A Detroit-area Catholic priest has been sentenced to 45 days in jail for assaulting a younger man who wanted counseling.

The victim told a judge Wednesday, Nov. 20 that he approached the Rev. Patrick Casey in Westland in 2013 because he “needed a shepherd” but that the priest didn’t help him.

Casey is accused of engaging in sex acts with the man, who was struggling with homosexuality and his faith and was suicidal.

Casey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in October after a jury said it was having trouble reaching a unanimous verdict on a felony charge.

Separately, in western Michigan, the Rev. Brian Stanley pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted false imprisonment.

Stanley was accused of wrapping a teen boy in bubble wrap and tape in a janitor’s room in 2013.