FLORIDA SEX-ABUSE BISHOP QUITS

PFMLIT CLERGY, General, SEX OFFENDERS AND OTHERS IN POSITIONS OF TRUST

Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell of the Diocese of Palm Beach who sexually abused a teenage student at a Missouri seminary more than 25 years ago, resigned yesterday, becoming the highest-ranking clergyman brought down in the scandal touched off in Boston.  The bishop admitted to allegations made by former student Christopher Dixon, now 40.  Dixon said the two touched inappropriately in bed after he sought out O'Connell for counseling in the late 1970s.  O'Connell, 63, was rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Hannibal, Mo., at the time.

(Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)