Suspended priest to surrender

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A suspended priest from the Archdiocese of Boston is to surrender in South Carolina on a charge he molested a boy at a James Island church in 1979, authorities said.

The Rev. James Nyhan, 58, is accused of committing a lewd act on a 13-year-old while associate pastor at the Church of the Nativity, said Charleston County Sheriff's Lieutenant Mikel Benton.

Investigators obtained an arrest warrant and Nyhan is to appear at a bond hearing today, Benton said.

The alleged victim reported the abuse to church officials in the mid-1990s, but it is unclear if anything was done to investigate, authorities said.

The Archdiocese of Boston removed Nyhan from active ministry in June 2002 after an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor. An earlier investigation into a separate allegation was closed after Nyhan's accuser recanted, the archdiocese said.

The alleged victim in South Carolina was one of the altar boys Nyhan oversaw at the James Island church, said Detective Claire Marana.

Maria Aselage, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Charleston, said Nyhan's accuser was provided counseling after reporting the abuse in 1994.

The diocese also passed on the allegations to the Archdiocese of Boston, where Nyhan served, and to local authorities, Aselage said. She did not know which law enforcement agency was notified."He was here for a very short time in the late 1970s," she said. "We know of no additional victims in this area."

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office began investigating in August when prosecutors brought the allegations to its attention.