ILLINOIS
Daily Southtown
Friday, February 14, 2003
By Allison Hantschel
Staff writer
Two brothers reported a Diocese of Joliet priest now presiding over a west suburban congregation to the police for sexually abusing them nearly 30 years ago.
According to their attorney, the men were abused as children by the Rev. Arno Dennerlein in the mid-1970s, when Dennerlein was a priest at St. Patrick Catholic Church.
The men told Joliet police on Feb. 6 that Dennerlein took them to the rectory and convinced them to lie down on his couch. The younger brother, who was between 5 and 6 years old at the time, told police that Dennerlein tried to look down his pants.
The older brother, who was about 12 at the time of his incident, said Dennerlein fondled him. The two did not learn about each other’s experiences until years later, according to a copy of the police report provided by their attorney, Keith Aeschliman.
