FAYETTEVILLE — A Catholic priest whom a parishioner accused of sexual assault will not face charges, the Washington County prosecutor's office said Monday.
Deputy prosecutor Dustin Roberts said evidence is insufficient that the Rev. Bradley Barber of St. Joseph Catholic Church used force with the 24-year-old man who described asexual encounter to police.
The decision not to file criminal charges against Barber comes after the Diocese of Little Rock decided Barber's actions involving the man were sufficient to withdraw "his faculties as a priest," according to a letter read to the congregation Sunday.
The man went to the married priest's Fayetteville home at 3 a.m. Aug. 4, where the church member said Barber performedoral sex on him.
"Based on the evidence, I don't think there are facts to show there is any manner of force," Roberts said. "We believe there was some sexual act based on the evidence. It's pretty clear.
"There's not sufficient probable cause to the standard we'd have to have."
Roberts said he believed it would have been difficult toconvince a jury that Barber, 53, committed a crime.
Paul Smith, an attorney for the accuser, said he believes there was force but it would be difficult to prove. Smith said Monday that he was denied in his efforts to meet with Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, who planned to conduct Mass at the Fayetteville church Monday night.
"They had to make a decisionabout what they think they can convict on," Smith said. "In criminal cases, the burden is high.
"It's our position that there was some force. There was some spiritual force, and emotional force and physical force."
During Monday's special Mass, Taylor asked 400 church members in attendance to pray for the victim, Barber, Barber's wife and the couple's four children.
He read a section of Luke that discusses scandal, forgiveness and faith. "Sins like those we apparently face today don't just happen out of the blue," he said.
Barber may have "used his position of power to take advantage" of the victim, Taylor told church members. Some people advised him to "get rid of this as quietly as possible," but he declined, he said.
"Secrets are dangerous and the truth usually gets out anyway," he said.
Taylor wrote in the letter read Sunday that the allegations against Barber were the third time the Fayetteville church has "lost a priest in scandalous circumstances."
The Rev. Paul Worm was removed for alleged misconduct in August 2006. The Rev. Mark Wood was removed in the 1990s.
Taylor told the parishioners Monday, "You have been snakebit so many times."
Barber, who attended the University of Arkansas from 1974-78, is a former Episcopal priest. The family lives in a Fayetteville home owned by the Diocese of Little Rock. No one answered the door at the home on Monday afternoon, and Barber could not be reached for comment.
He left the Episcopal Church and was welcomed into the Diocese of Corpus Christi (Texas) in 1992 as a lay minister while awaiting ordination as a Catholic priest. His ordination was approved by Pope John Paul II in 1994.
Barber practiced as a Catholic priest in Corpus Christi but moved to Arkansas and took the St. Joseph's post in July 2007.
"Everything was fine when he left here," said Marty Wind, a spokesman for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
The Texas diocese issued a statement Monday about the allegations.
"As in all cases such as this, the diocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement in its investigation," the statement said.
"We pray for the well-being and fair treatment of all partiesconcerned."
Barber's accuser and his two attorneys contacted Fayetteville police about 12 hours after he said the incident happened.
He told police that he sent an e-mail to Barber at 2:28 a.m. He asked if Barber's summer had been fun and wrote, "If you ever feel like getting together for a drink, let me know."
Barber wrote back 25 minutes later: "I'm still up. Come over for a drink."
The man said he traveled to Barber's home, according to investigation documents. The priest's family was out of town.
The man said he drank wine with the already intoxicated Barber and that the priest kissed him on a couch. Later, Barber forced him onto a bed, lay next to him, touched him sexually and performed oral sex on him, he said in an interview with Fayetteville police detective David Williams.
"Barber had a certain level of power and control over him in terms of being his spiritual leader," Williams wrote in his investigation report. "[The victim] didn't use physical force to get out of the situation. He said he was too afraid to do so."
Police on Aug. 5 recorded a phone call placed by the man to Barber. A transcript of the conversation states that Barber repeatedly apologized.
"Sometimes I do stupid things when I've been drinking too much and I'm sorry - you know I - I - I broke your trust and uh, the only thing that I can say is, is sometimes my humanity, uh, gets the better of me and I've just - I - I blew it," the priest said during the call.
Members of the Catholic parish in Fayetteville said they were surprised. Vaughn Knight, a Fayetteville attorney who attends the church, said he was disappointed to see so much detail about the allegations against Barber in the letter that was read during the church services.
"I couldn't believe that much was stated with nothing really to back it up," Knight said. "It was almost like the diocese has convicted him before anyone else has.
"I would like to talk to him, but I don't know where he is."
Paul Warren, business manager for the Fayetteville church, said staff had been instructed not to contact Barber. He said he liked him, calling him "personable, strong and authoritative."
"Sometimes there are no words for it," Warren said. "I've learned that from funerals - infants' funerals. I would give Father a hug. That would say all I need to say.
"My faith is strong. These things don't burst my faith."
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7, 9 on 08/11/2009