PHOENIX — A former Valley priest indicted on charges including sexual conduct with a minor is said to be suffering from a "serious and mortal health condition."
In early January of this year, a Maricopa County Grand Jury charged Father John "Jack" Dallas Spaulding, 74, with six counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of molestation of a child.
He is accused of sexually abusing two boys, who were under the age of 15, between the years of 2003 and 2007. During that time span, Spaulding was a Priest at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in Phoenix and St. Timothy's in Mesa. Additional details about Father Spaulding's activities were outlined in a 2012 civil lawsuit.
Spaulding was summoned to appear in court Friday morning for an arraignment on the charges against him.
In court documents, Spaulding defense attorneys request that he be excused from appearing due to a "serious and mortal health condition." The reports say he is in the first phase of aggressive treatment that "profoundly suppresses his immune system." The documents also say respiratory viruses among the public pose a "high threat" to his health.
He is said to be extremely weak and has recently suffered "two injurious falls at his home."
County prosecutors are not fighting the request, and the arraignment is scheduled to go on in his absence.
