Priest fired from school chaplain job

A Catholic high school in Lawrence fired its volunteer chaplain yesterday, after it was alleged the priest had sent inappropriate electronic messages to students.

The Reverend Michael C. Randone, 36, also resigned yesterday as pastor of Haverhill's Sacred Hearts Parish, where he had served since July 2003, said officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

A spokesman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said the office is investigating the allegations against Randone.

One instant message sent under Randone's screen name included what Lawrence Central Catholic High School officials called offensive content. A family member of the recipient notified the school, triggering the investigation that resulted in Randone's firing last week.

Randone denied sending the message and told school officials someone must have used his account to send the message.

It was allegedly the third time Randone had violated the school's policy on ''appropriate boundaries" between adults and students.

He received a verbal warning in 2002 and a written warning in 2003 for what school officials described as ''off-campus contact with students, unrelated to school business."

Central Catholic's president, Brother Richard Van Houten, said yesterday that in one of the earlier incidents, Randone was seen in a restaurant with a group of young people and that in the other he was seen with a group of young people in a car. There ''was absolutely nothing criminal or sexual," Van Houten said, but ''socializing with kids off campus is something we don't permit."

In a statement issued yesterday, Van Houten said that Randone had left him few options.

''By his actions, Friar Randone has clearly indicated that he does not intend to abide by this critically important policy, and therefore, he has left us no choice but to terminate him as school chaplain," Van Houten said. ''For Friar Randone to ignore this after being warned is, I feel, totally unacceptable."

Van Houten said the school could not confirm the origin of the latest missive. Randone, who was ordained in 1995, could not be reached last night, and officials at the church in Haverhill declined to comment.

A spokesman for the archdiocese said officials there learned of the prior warnings in recent days, after the most recent allegations surfaced. In a statement, archdiocesan officials said they had notified local authorities of the allegations and have launched their own review.

Known as Father Mike, Randone grew up in Methuen and has been active for years in local youth sports. He planned to coach Central Catholic's junior varsity lacrosse team this spring.

Tom Carbone, a Sacred Hearts parishioner and parent of a student at the high school, said Randone ''was great with the kids" and had reinvigorated the parish's youth group.''I've never heard of any problems," he said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.