Penn State football scandal led to claims against suburban priest

It was a high-profile scandal involving a college football coach that brought an end to the 40-year ministry of former Catholic priest Gary Miller over sex abuse allegations.

Days after former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky went to trial in June 2012 on 52 charges of sex crimes against children, the Archdiocese of Chicago received an email from a man who said he had "a story to tell" about what occurred at a parish in West suburban Berwyn. The email's writer said he came forward "after having watched, and been wrenched" by the Sandusky case, according to a 275-page report released Thursday by the archdiocese.

The man later told church investigators that in 1973 or 1974, when he was 13 or 14 years old, he was molested by a young priest named Gary Miller at St. Leonard Parish in Berwyn. According to church documents, the boy reported that after serving Mass as an altar boy, Miller invited him back to his residence, where the priest removed his clothes, told him to undress and touched him.

The boy wouldn't report the allegations until nearly 40 years later, by which time Miller had moved on to five other city and suburban parishes, including Queen of the Rosary in Elk Grove Village between 1983 and 1988. When the man did come forward, Miller was pastor at St. Bernadette Parish in Evergreen Park.

Unlike many accused priests, Miller chose not to fight the allegations. Instead, he agreed to leave active ministry in July 2012 and then, in September of that year, wrote a letter to Cardinal Francis George asking for early retirement.

"I have tried very hard to live an exemplary priestly life," Miller wrote. "I have been a pastor for 23 years and feel that I have helped my people know the saving grace of redemption."

Just six days after the request, the archdiocese's review board found there was reason to suspect sexual misconduct by Miller. He resigned six days after the finding.

Miller eventually was placed in the archdiocese's Prayer and Penance Program, in which priests found to have committed sexual misconduct are barred from public ministry and live under church supervision.