Police: Sex Abuse Case Against Former Cheyenne Bishop Still Open
Cheyenne police are hoping to release more information about former Catholic bishop Joseph Hart's case later this week.
Hart led the Diocese of Cheyenne from 1978 to 2001 and is alleged to have sexually abused several boys between the early 70s and late 90s.
"It's still an open investigation," Officer David Inman said of Hart's case, which was reopened in August 2018 after the diocese announced that it had substantiated evidence that Hart had abused three boys in Wyoming.
Police asked additional victims or witnesses to come forward, and in September 2019, the diocese reported three more abuse allegations against Hart.
Earlier this month, an alleged victim in the case reportedly told the Casper Star-Tribune that Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen's Office, who's handling the case, told him that there was "insufficient evidence" to support charging Hart.
But neither Itzen nor Cheyenne police would confirm that Hart's case had been dropped.
Inman says police met with members of Itzen's office on Friday, June 19, and agreed that they would revisit the case sometime this week.
"This is obviously a high-profile case," said Inman. "So it's one of those things to where we're kind of just not providing anything further until we can meet with Natrona County again and make sure we're all on the same page when we do put something out."