Nebraska church ousts 'invasive' priest who grilled kids on masturbation and porn during confession

A priest from the St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in Nebraska has been ousted after he asked middle-school children about their affinities for pornography and masturbation while they were taking confession.

The Omaha World Herald reports that 26-year-old Rev. Nicholas Mishek was relieved of his duties at the church after parents complained he asked their children if they masturbated or watched pornography while they were talking with him in a confession booth.

"There was this line of questioning that’s unacceptable, and he asked two questions that are particularly unacceptable," Deacon Tim McNeil, chancellor and spokesman for the Archdiocese of Omaha, told the World Herald. "And parents reacted strongly, and should have, and we responded to that."

McNeil said that Mishek was being overzealous in his questioning of the children, as he said that priests are not supposed to make inquiries of such a personal nature, especially to young children.

"There are parents who are Catholic who have experiences of their own with the sacrament of reconciliation who know questioning is not a usual or encouraged practice," he said. "The nature of those two questions, they thought that was a little personal and maybe too invasive."