YOUNGSTOWN Prosecutor hopes to stay on board that advises bishop on child issues

His stayed suspension will allow him to continue practicing law.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- An assistant prosecutor who failed to disclose information in a sex-abuse case serves on a review board for the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown created in part to prevent cover-ups of sexual abuse.
The Ohio Supreme Court gave Thomas Wrenn, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, a six-month stayed suspension of his law license this week for not disclosing information in a 1999 child sexual assault case involving a baseball coach and a player. The stayed suspension allows Wrenn to continue practicing law and prosecute cases.
Wrenn was one of 13 people named to the diocesan review panel on July 29, 2002. The panel meets privately to advise Bishop Thomas J. Tobin on the diocese's child protection policy and has heard information about past cases of abuse by local priests.
Bishop Tobin and Wrenn said Thursday they hope they can continue to work together.
In a statement, Bishop Tobin said, "It has just come to our attention through the recent news reports and we have not had the opportunity to discuss this with Attorney Wrenn. [He] brings a great deal of expertise and experience to the work of the review board, and we hope that he will be able to serve."
Wrenn, chief counsel of the child assault division for the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, a state licensed clinical psychologist and a federally licensed school psychologist, said he doesn't think the court's action would affect his ability to serve.Monsignor John Zuraw said Wrenn is a board member but he does not serve as counsel to the board or the diocese.
National complaints
The review board was created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in the wake of hundreds of complaints nationally that priests were transferred from parish to parish after abusing children and that abuse cases were not reported to authorities.
The bishops stipulated that the majority of board members not work for the diocese.
Wrenn was accused of withholding DNA test results from the defense and the judge, and not mentioning the victim changed his story after the tests were completed.
Atty. Charles Richards of Warren, who represented Wrenn before the supreme court, said the assistant prosecutor made an innocent misrepresentation.
The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of gross sexual imposition and was sentenced to three years in prison.
wilkinson@vindy.com