Wichita prosecutor says priest did not sexually assault woman

? A woman who claimed that a Wichita priest sexually assaulted her made a “false accusation” when she went public with her allegations, Sedgwick County Dist. Atty. Nola Foulston said Friday.

“A kiss, embrace and hand-holding does not constitute a sexual assault in this state – or any other state. … The fact he wore a clerical collar does not give him a higher burden,” Foulston said.

Earlier this month, Peggy Warren told reporters at a news conference outside the Wichita Catholic Diocese headquarters that the Catholic Church should not have put the priest back in the ministry after he sexually assaulted her twice in 2004. She was joined by members of the activist group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in protests in Wichita and St. Louis, urging church officials to remove the priest from his ministry.

Foulston said her office would not prosecute anyone.

“It was determined very clearly that these episodes were consensual, that no force was used,” Foulston.

The events were not sexual assault and involved only kissing, embracing and hand-holding, she said, adding that there was no intercourse, no sodomy, and no touching underneath their clothing.

Warren, 34, told The Associated Press after the district attorney’s news conference Friday that she hoped other victims or witnesses would contact authorities so that others would be protected.

“I am standing by what I have been saying all along: it was not consensual and there was no romantic relationship,” she said.

While Foulston was correct in saying there was no intercourse, she said, it did go beyond hand-holding. She said the priest forcibly pulled her to him and rubbed himself against her.

“I am just glad his name is out there – so others can be on the alert,” Warren said.

The alleged incidents occurred in April and July 2004, and the woman waited until April 2005 to file a criminal complaint, Foulston said.

Prosecutors reviewed lengthy letters the woman wrote the priest after he broke off the relationship that made it “abundantly clear” that there was no forced sexual activity, she said.

“This is not a priest abuse situation,” Foulston said.

The Associated Press has a policy of not identifying alleged victims of sexual abuse – unless they are adults who publicly identify themselves, as in this case. The AP is not naming the priest, who has not been charged with any crime.

“The diocese welcomed a further investigation into this matter, and we appreciate the manner in which it was conducted by the District Attorney’s office,” the diocese said in a statement Friday.

After the protest earlier this month outside diocese headquarters, Bishop Michael Jackels told reporters he believed he acted responsibly in allowing the priest to return to active ministry.

The Catholic Church paid Warren $15,750 as an act of “Christian charity” to help her and her family pay for counseling and other costs, he said at that time. Nothing in the payment acknowledges any liability or responsibility by the diocese.