Gatlinburg priest acquitted of sexual abuse charges is leaving the country

The Rev. Antony Devassey Punnackal has been acquitted of sexual assault charges by a Sevier County jury, settling a federal civil lawsuit filed by the woman who said she sexually assaulted her during a counseling session in 2020. However, he will not return to ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville.

He actually leaves the country.

Punnackal serves at the discretion of the Carmelites of the Immaculate Conception, an international order that has asked him to return to his native India, diocesan spokesman Jim Wogan said in an email to Knox News.

The order essentially loaned Punnackal to the diocese and is now demanding his return after being freed from his legal entanglements. Punnackal has been suspended since January 2022. Diocesan leaders learned of the request for his return to India on May 10, Wogan said.

What becomes of his ministry now rests with the Carmelite Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, including what to do with the salacious details that emerged from the trial, such as the hundreds of pornographic images that police found on Punnackal’s computer has. Details not previously reported by Knox News. Those details emerged during a hearing in a Sevier County courtroom in June.

The jury never heard about the pornography before acquitting Punnackal because the judge ruled it was harmful. Still, it worried diocesan leaders so much that they alerted the religious community.

“The diocese has made a real, honest and concerted effort to bring these issues and the events at this hearing to the attention of its religious community,” Wogan said.

Based on the details revealed in court, Punnackal might not have been reinstated into local parish ministry anyway, but the decision was taken out of the diocese’s hands.

A representative of the Carmelite Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Mary could not immediately be reached for comment.

Details may not be taken into account in the legal proceedings

Sevier County Judge James Gass did not allow certain evidence to be presented to jurors, ruling in August that it was prejudicial to Punnackal, but the sides discussed the details in open court during a June hearing, records show are public. Details of the hearing come from a court transcript obtained by Knox News.

Gatlinburg police Detective Rodney Burns testified that a forensic analysis of Punnackal’s computer by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation revealed between 900 and 1,100 pornographic images on the laptop. Burns said Punnackal had been on a pornographic website minutes before meeting the woman and said he felt the details “came back to the motive and his behavior toward the victim.”

The woman, a Honduran, did not speak fluent English and the two communicated via Google Translate as she sought counseling after the father of her child was recently killed. According to court records, she used her phone and Punnackal used his computer.

The TBI report included images depicting bestiality and homosexuality (both male and female), as well as images that Burns deemed “somewhat degrading to women (and) animals.” It also showed Punnackal’s Internet search history, which included searches for “Hondurans for sex” and “Hondurans sex,” Burns said.

Sevier County Assistant District Attorney Ron Newcomb argued that the images were relevant to understanding Punnackal’s mental state leading up to the alleged attack.

“Intent is a big issue when it comes to sexual harassment cases and particularly given the length of time he is looking at the material just before that person comes in,” he told the court.

However, the jury never heard the evidence discovered on the laptop. Punnackal’s attorney, Travis McCarter, argued and Gass later agreed to keep the evidence secret.

Susan Vance, the director of the Tennessee chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, told Knox News that the discovery on Punnackal’s computer was enough to keep him from serving.

“The TBI crime lab discovered significant evidence of misconduct as a priest of the Catholic Church on his laptop (and) although this was withheld from the jury in criminal court, it cannot be ignored or downplayed by the Diocesan Review Board and church officials.” Vance said in an email.

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