Concerns over an island pastor’s alleged actions at a former church are bubbling up.
The Islander received a Jan. 26 email from a community member regarding the Rev. Czeslaw “Chester” Domaszewicz’s transfer from the Diocese of Dallas, where allegations of sexual misconduct have been reported for a number of years.
Twins Myrna and Michaela Dartson, 52, allege the priest sexually harassed them when they were young adults attending St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in the 1980s, as reported by The Dallas Morning News in 2018.
The Dartson twins accused Domaszewicz of grabbing at their bodies and clothes and making inappropriate and suggestive comments toward them during his 1986-90 tenure at the Dallas church.
The Dartsons reported Domaszewicz’s behavior to the Diocese of Dallas in 1989, but the diocese didn’t investigate the matter until 2002 — and didn’t report it to law enforcement until the story reached the press in 2018.
By that time, Domaszewicz was at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Holmes Beach. He has been assigned under the Diocese of Venice since 1991.
The Dallas Police Department subsequently opened an investigation into the allegations, prompting the Diocese of Venice to place Domaszewicz on administrative leave while its Dallas counterpart investigated.
Nothing came of the police investigation and Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice wrote a letter dated July 3, 2019, to the St. Bernard Parish clearing Domaszewicz and ending his administrative leave.
“The review board informed me that there was ‘no basis for recommending the priest’s exclusion from the ministry.’ I concur,” Dewane wrote. “Therefore, Father Chester will return to assume his duties as Pastor of St. Bernard Parish.”
He also wrote that Domaszewicz “denied any wrongdoing.”
Domaszewicz did not respond to a Jan. 28 call from The Islander.
Little is known about how the Diocese of Dallas’ investigation into the allegations was handled.
Dewane’s letter did not provide insight into the investigation and the Diocese of Dallas did not respond to a Jan. 29 call from The Islander asking for details.
The Catholic Church has been accused of knowingly covering up many sexual abuse charges brought against members of its ranks.
To combat those accusations, Catholic leaders in Texas released in 2019 a list of almost 300 clergy members “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children since 1950.
The Diocese of Dallas listed 31 clergy members among those “credibly accused” of sexual abuse. Domaszewicz was reportedly not included on the list because the Dartson twins were 19 years old — a year older than the cutoff age of 18 — at the time they alleged sexual misconduct.
Diocese of Venice assistant communications director Bob Reddy declined to comment Jan. 29 on the history of sexual abuse in the church.