By Lisa Redmond
The Lowell Sun
LOWELL -- A longtime leader in the local Catholic community, who was dismissed from his job as a jail chaplain and suspended as a deacon at a Tewksbury church, is facing charges of delivering drugs to prisoners.
Deacon William Emerson of St. William Church of Tewksbury was scheduled to be arraigned in Lowell District Court yesterday on three counts of delivering drugs to prisoners. But the 66-year-old Lowell resident was a no-show.
When reached for comment, Emerson said he thought his arraignment was today. His new court date in Lowell District Court is May 5.
Both Emerson and his attorney, Daniel Sherwood, declined to comment further on the charges.
Michael Hartigan, spokesman for Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, said, “The sheriff does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
Hartigan repeated an earlier statement that the sheriff’s policy is that if any investigation results in the discovery of suspected criminal activity, the case is referred to the appropriate state or federal authorities for prosecution.
Until Emerson is arraigned on the charges, Middlesex District Attorney spokesperson Cara O’Brien declined to elaborate on the allegations.
Emerson, who worked at the Middlesex County House of Correction in Billerica since 2001, was removed from his post on March 3 amid allegations of drug-related charges.
As of March 12, Emerson, who is known to parishioners at St. William Church, was suspended from performing his duties by the Archdiocese of Boston. Emerson, who was ordained as a deacon in 1973 in Omaha, Neb., was granted faculties in the Archdiocese of Boston in 1982.
Archdiocese of Boston spokesman Terrence Donilon said in a statement, “Given this is now a legal matter the Archdiocese will defer further comment.”
In a statement at the time of Emerson’s suspension, Donilon said Emerson was removed “in light of concerns that have come to our attention regarding his ministry as a prison chaplain.”
Emerson was suspended from performing the duties of an ordained deacon, including presiding over baptisms, officiating at weddings and burials, and giving last rites and Holy Communion.
As of 1998, Emerson had worked as an ordained deacon longer than any other deacon in the Archdiocese of Boston, according to a church newsletter.
Community leaders have spoken highly of the man who once was involved with a Tewksbury anti-drug committee, the Lowell-area Division of Social Services, Tewksbury Community Advocates for Resources, Education, and Services (CARES), and other groups the goal of which is to keep youths away from drugs.
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