Priest to be arraigned in Chelsea today
Police say he asked woman, daughter at eatery for sex
CHELSEA -- A Roman Catholic priest charged with soliciting sex from a 12-year-old girl and her mother while dining last month at a Chelsea restaurant told police he may have made ''inappropriate" remarks to them but was too drunk to remember, according to a police report.
The Rev. Jerome Gillespie, 55, who will be arraigned today in Chelsea District Court, said he remembered two females sitting near his booth at Floramo's restaurant and apologized for his behavior to Chelsea police, the report states.
''Gillespie . . . said that he had too much to drink and may have said some inappropriate things," according to the report. He ''stated he does not remember what he had said."
Gillespie resigned as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Swampscott three days after the Jan. 25 incident. He is charged with one count each of enticement of a child under age 16, solicitation of sex for a fee, and accosting a person of the opposite sex, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office.
Neither Gillespie nor his lawyer, Timothy O'Neill of Boston, could be reached for comment yesterday.
A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the criminal investigation is ongoing.
''We already are in possession of enough information to know that the charges sought by Chelsea police are appropriate," said spokesman David Procopio.
The mother and daughter have been assigned a victim/witness advocate by the district attorney's office, said Procopio, who declined further comment.
Gillespie, who has been a priest in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston since 1982, has no prior criminal history, according to Chelsea police.
His arrest stunned parishioners at St. John the Evangelist, the North Shore parish he had led for seven months. The archdiocese accepted his resignation, but said that did ''not represent any indication of Father Gillespie's guilt or innocence as it pertains to this allegation." Gillespie remains a priest but is currently unassigned, the archdiocese said yesterday.
Gillespie was sitting with a friend in a booth behind the mother and daughter, whom police did not identify, when he offered them money to perform oral sex on both men, the police report states.
Gillespie, who was not wearing priest's garments, was initially facing the 12-year-old. ''While asking . . . for sexual favors, he was rubbing his fingers together, saying he had money for her," according to the report.
Gillespie then is alleged to have asked the mother for oral sex and have ''pointed to his genital area" the report states.
The mother then told Gillespie she was going to call the police, and she went to get a manager. Gillespie and his unidentified friend then ''left in a hurry," according to the report.
A manager followed them to the parking lot, where he took down the license plate of a black Ford Taurus registered to Gillespie, the report states.
Chelsea police left a message for Gillespie at the rectory, where the priest arrived around midnight. He returned the call and confirmed he had been at Floramo's earlier in the evening and may have said ''some inappropriate things," the report states.
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.
