ALLEGAN, MI (WTVB) – A Catholic priest was given a 60 day jail sentence Monday by Allegan County Circuit Court Chief Judge Margaret Bakker after he pleaded guilty to one felony count of Attempted False Imprisonment.
57-year-old Father Brian Stanley entered the plea in November 2019.
His was the second conviction in the ongoing investigation of clergy abuse by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Stanley was given credit for two days already served and he will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years. He was also placed on probation for five years.
Stanley was charged in August after being accused of secreting away a teenaged boy and holding him against his will in the janitor’s room of St. Margaret’s Church in Coloma in 2013.
Stanley reportedly immobilized the young man by wrapping him tightly in plastic wrap, then used masking tape as additional binding and to cover his eyes and mouth. Stanley left the victim, bound and alone, in the janitor’s room for an extended period of time before returning and eventually letting him go.
Nessel said in a statement at the time of his plea that “Mr. Stanley’s decision to plead guilty to Attempted False Imprisonment ensures that he will be held accountable for the pain and suffering he has caused.”
Stanley previously served as pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Coldwater and Our Lady of Fatima in Union City.
(reporting by Jim Measel)
