Crime & Safety

Local Priest Makes Court Appearance on Firearms Charges

Father Paul Gotta was placed on leave earlier this month after being accused of sexually abusing a minor, and is now facing federal firearms charges.

local priest accused of sexually abusing a minor, and facing federal firearms charges, appeared before a judge Thursday for a detention hearing at Bridgeport Federal Court.

Father Paul Gotta, 55, former administrator of St. Philip in East Windsor and St. Catherine in Broad Brook, is charged with aiding and abetting the unlawful transport of a firearm in interstate commerce, and the purchase of a handgun by a juvenile in violation of federal law, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In federal custody since his arrest last Friday, a judge Thursday agreed to a plan for Rev. Gotta's release to the custody of his sister, according to WFSB.

The terms of release include confinement to Rev. Gotta's Bridgeport home, electronic monitoring, and the removal of legally owned weapons from his home, WFSB reports.

Rev. Gotta is the same priest who alerted authorities about a local teenager who allegedly made threats against the Metropolitan Learning Center in Bloomfield. 

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Rev. Gotta told police that 18-year-old Kyle Bass had allegedly manufactured explosives and a silencer for at least one rifle; had made disturbing references to the Newtown shootings and Boston Marathon bombings; and was going to pull a prank that “was going to make sure they would remember he was there,” according to the affidavit for an arrest warrant.

Bass is scheduled to next appear in Hartford Superior Court on July 29, according to court records.

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