COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Documents gathered by Michigan State Police are revealing that a Lansing priest that was suspended for sexual assault allegations previously worked for the Branch Intermediate School District and at several parishes in Kalamazoo.
Reverend Robert Gerl was removed from the Catholic Diocese of Lansing last week after a “credible allegation” surfaced about a decade-old sexual assault involving an adult male.
Gerl was also a licensed psychologist who served as the Special Education Supervisor at the Branch Intermediate School District from 2011 until he retired in 2015.
BISD Superintendent Kristine Jenkins says there were no discipline issues with Gerl during his time with the district.
Documents revealed that before Gerl moved to the Lansing area, he served in the Diocese of Kalamazoo at Nazareth College from 1986 to 1991, at St. Thomas More Parish in Kalamazoo from 1997 to 2000, and at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Portage from 2000 to 2009.
The Diocese of Kalamazoo is now asking anyone who may have been harmed by Gerl to come forward and contact police.
This comes after State Police working for the Attorney General’s office executed search warrants at the offices of all seven Catholic Diocese in Michigan in early October.
(reporting from John McNeill-WKZO AM/FM)
