Catholic Official Strongly Denies Sexual Allegations

{Charleston, West Virginia}...Bishop Michael Bransfield, West Virginia's highest-ranking Catholic official, has strongly denied allegations he sexually abused a young boy in the 1970s. The denial came one day after a witness in a clergy sex-abuse trial in Philadelphia testified that he was sexually assaulted in a home owned by Bransfield and claimed he was told by his abuser that Bransfield had assaulted another boy more than 30 years ago. The witness was testifying in a criminal trial against Monsignor William Lynn, who is accused of covering up sex abuse allegations for the Philadelphia Archdiocese. In a statement released by the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese Thursday morning, Bransfield said, "I have never sexually abused anyone." Bransfield said he was in Rome attending meetings at the Vatican Wednesday when the false story about him was publicly released by the media without his knowledge or input. Bransfield said, "To say I was shocked and saddened would be an understatement."