Opinion ID: 2453320
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Early priesthood

Text: Michael Nash, currently 60 years old, was a priest in Southeast Alaska for the better part of the 25 years between 1980 and 2005. He was based in larger communitiesJuneau and Ketchikanand often served smaller communities by plane. During the 1980s Nash often took trips and brought boys along on the trips. These trips included local travel in Southeast Alaska and more extensive travel to such destinations as San Francisco and Hawaii. Nash had inappropriate contact with some of the boys on these trips. Nash asserts that the contact was horseplay and a form of discipline, but agrees that it was inappropriate in retrospect. Four affidavits from boys on the trips describe Nash's conduct. It involved tickling the boys, having them do calisthenics in their underwear, spanking them, and receiving foot and neck massages from them. The affidavits are not strictly condemnatory though. The affidavit discussing tickling hedged its assessment: Father Nash never touched my genital area, and did not engage in other sexual activity with me. He also never told me not to mention the tickling to others, and he might not have realized that there was something wrong about it. And six other affidavits or letters from participants indicated that no improper activity was observed on the trips, nor was discomfort felt. Admitting to the acts and their inappropriateness, Nash stated that the discipline was of the kind he had received as a child at Catholic summer camp. A Juneau teacher who worked with youth at the time of Nash's actions stated that it was then common to discipline children in such a manner. The church looked into the matter and concluded that the behavior was horse play. Nash said the tickling was used in place of spanking. He claims that he did not receive any sexual gratification from the behavior, but now recognizes that it was inappropriate. A letter from Nash's legal advocate within the church described the behavior as immature attempts by a very young priest to maintain discipline among teenagers.