A former theology teacher at Erie's Cathedral Preparatory School who began his teaching career at what is now Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage has been accused of sexual misconduct by three former Prep students.

The Erie Times-News reported Thursday an unidentified man, now 39, claims the Rev. Michael G. Barletta sexually molested him for several years, starting when the man was a 15-year-old sophomore at Prep.

The man is reportedly one of three Prep alumni who complained to Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman about the 63-year-old Barletta, saying the sexual molestation occurred between the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Trautman didn't become bishop of the Erie diocese until 1990.

According to the Times-News, Barletta is an Ellwood City native who was ordained in 1966. Shortly thereafter he was assigned to teach at what was then called Kennedy Christian High School, where he remained until being assigned to Prep in 1975.

The Erie diocese last listed Barletta in its directory for 2001-02. The Times-News said Trautman had said previously that any priest who is not listed in the directory is out of the ministry.

The Times-News reported Trautman declined to comment on allegations against any diocesan priests, citing the canon law of the Catholic church, and he never identified Barletta by name as a priest he removed from ministry. No civil or criminal suits are pending against Barletta because of the statute of limitations, the newspaper said.

Current Kennedy Catholic President Pete Iacino didn't begin working at the school until 1979, four years after Barletta left, and said he didn't know anything about the allegations other than what he read in the Erie newspaper.

Iacino did say, however, "We're always saddened when we hear those kinds of allegations and we're always sympathetic to the victims of those things. It's just an awful thing, if true, and is something that absolutely must be eradicated."

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