Teen charged with raping elderly nun outside Pennsylvania convent

[December 16, 2013]  By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) — A teenager has been arrested on charges of raping an 85-year-old nun in the snow-covered parking lot of a church in the small, industrial town of Aliquippa, northwest of Pittsburgh, police said on Sunday.

Andrew Bullock, 18, is accused of confronting the nun late Friday morning as she was throwing books into a recycling bin, first exposing himself to her, then knocking her to the ground and sexually assaulting her.

The attack took place beneath a statue of the Virgin Mary at the convent at St. Titus Catholic Church, said Don Couch, the western Pennsylvania town's assistant police chief.

Bullock, who Couch described as a "loner," was arrested later the same day and was being held in the Beaver County jail awaiting a court hearing. Couch said he did not know if the defendant was represented by an attorney.

Barbara Hecht, a spokeswoman for the Sisters of St. Joseph, the order to which the nun belonged, said the woman had suffered a dislocated jaw and was released from Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

"Sister is a passionate advocate of nonviolence, peace and justice, and each month she conducts a prayer vigil for peace in the chapel of our Motherhouse," said a statement from Sister Mary Pellegrino of the order.

"The Sisters of St. Joseph are deeply saddened and heart-broken by the assault of one of our sisters," the statement said.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Mohammad Zargham)

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