Texas grand jury declines to indict priest for sexual assault in consent case

"A Texas grand jury has declined to indict the onetime deputy to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo on charges he sexually assaulted a married woman in a case that raised questions about consent in the #MeToo era.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office had presented the case against Monsignor Frank Rossi on Monday, more than a year after Laura Pontikes filed a criminal complaint with Houston police.

The Associated Press in June reported that Pontikes, a Houston business executive, had alleged that Rossi manipulated her into a sexual relationship, all while acting as her spiritual adviser, hearing her confessions, soliciting six-figure donations and counseling her husband on their troubled marriage.

The Catholic hierarchy — which is already trying to stem the loss of credibility over the scandal of priests raping children — has long sought to paint priest-parishioner relationships as consensual and blamed the woman for tempting the priest."

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