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Priest With Terminal Skin Cancer Has Case Delayed

Posted: 5:45 AM Jun 14, 2012

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Further hearings in the case of a Roman Catholic priest facing sodomy charges have been postponed until December, and a court document says he has terminal skin cancer.

The Courier-Journal (http://cjky.it/LmGSmn ) says Jefferson County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John Balliet released a letter from Dr. George R. Nichols II, the former chief medical examiner for the state.

Nichols reviewed the Rev. James Schook's health records and said he agreed with an assessment that the 64-year-old priest has an aggressive form of melanoma. Nichols wrote that the cancer is in stage IV, meaning a statistical life expectancy of less than a year. Schook, who has pleaded not guilty, is undergoing chemotherapy.

Jeff Koenig of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the matter would be unresolved if Schook didn't stand trial.