METAIRIE, La. — Former St. Francis Xavier Church Deacon Virgil Maxey "V.M." Wheeler III died on Thursday, according to The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate.
The newspaper reports that Wheeler died from pancreatic cancer, and his death was confirmed by the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office.
Wheeler pleaded guilty to indecent behavior charges after being arrested in 2021 on suspicion of taking showers with a boy and performing oral sex on him between 2000 and 2002. Wheeler was sentenced to five years of probation and was forced to register as a sex offender.
The abuse took place before Wheeler was ordained as a member of the clergy in 2018. The Archdiocese of New Orleans suspended him from his church duties in August 2020 after the victim revealed additional details about the abuse to his father and church officials.
The newspaper reports that Wheeler was initially charged with two counts each of sexual battery and indecent behavior. Prosecutors reduced the sexual battery charges to indecent behavior under a plea agreement.
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