Victims says priest aimed gun at him during sexual abuse

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A 49-year-old man says a Roman Catholic priest pointed a gun at him while sexually abusing him as a teenager.

The accuser’s attorney, Steve Boyd, says the abuse occurred after the Diocese of Buffalo received a complaint about the priest from another alleged victim in 1980.

The allegations against the late Rev. Michael Freeman were first reported by The Buffalo News.

The man has filed a claim with the Buffalo diocese victims’ compensation fund. He says Freeman would jokingly brandish a silver .38-calibre revolver to get him to comply with the abuse.

Freeman died in 2010.

A diocesan spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

Freeman’s name is included in a list of priests accused of sexually abusing children released by the diocese in March.