AUSTIN, Texas _ A Roman Catholic priest in Austin has been accused of groping a woman in hospice care while he performed a last rites ceremony in October, court documents said.
The Rev. Gerold Langsch, 75, has been charged with assault by contact, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in a county jail and a maximum fine of $4,000.
An arrest affidavit filed last week said the 60-year-old woman suffered from several medical conditions including diabetes, and was put into hospice care at her home because of renal failure. Her husband reached out to the Knights of Columbus to tell them about his wife's illness, and the group said it would send a priest over to give the woman her last rites, the affidavit said.
Langsch was known to the woman, who is not being named because of the nature of the allegation, as Father Gerold of St. Paul's Catholic Church, Austin Police Department investigators said. The affidavit said Langsch arrived arrived Oct. 5 and used a bottle of holy water to anoint the woman's chest three times, before he pulled out a separate bottle of lotion and began to apply it to her chest.
The document said Langsch massaged the woman's breast, pinched her nipple and asked, "Does that feel good?"
The woman said she was in shock and felt like a "nasty, dirty piece of meat," the affidavit said, adding that Langsch also tried to put his hand down the woman's adult diaper and lift her leg, which caused her pain because she also suffered from neuropathy.
Austin police Detective Steven McCormick said the woman reported the incident to police on Oct. 10. On March 13, the woman picked Langsch out of a photo lineup as the man who assaulted her, the affidavit said.
Diocese officials learned of Langsch's arrest on March 16, Diocese of Austin Communications Director Christian Gonzalez said. A link to Langsch's profile on the Austin Diocese website still exists, but the page has been disabled.
Langsch's LinkedIn profile lists him as belonging to the Schoenstatt Fathers movement in Waukesha, Wis. He came to Austin in November 2015, Gonzalez said, and has only served at the St. Paul Parish in South Austin.
Gonzalez said Langsch was removed as pastor at St. Paul Parish in February after officials received an unrelated report that he had failed to maintain proper boundaries with an adult.
"That report did not involve any physical contact," Gonzalez said.
The diocese is fully cooperating with the latest investigation, he said. Gonzalez encouraged anyone with information related to the case to contact police as soon as possible.
