Francis X. Nelson

Ordained: 1989

It was reported that in 2003 Nelson was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old girl while visiting her sick grandmother. Father Nelson was said to have forced the girl to sit on his lap, fondled the girl’s breasts, and pushing his genitals into her buttocks. It has been reported that the girl’s family reported the incident to the Diocese of Brooklyn and that the Diocese of Brooklyn notified Nelson’s bishop in India. However, it was further reported that the bishop of India, Leon Tharmanaj, wrote Nelson a letter of recommendation that Nelson used to get a job at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Harlem.