Coloma priest charged with binding teenage boy in plastic wrap, covering eyes and mouth

A priest now living in Coloma allegedly held a teenage boy against his will by wrapping him in saran wrap in a janitor's room of an Allegan County church and bound the child's eyes and mouth.

Rev. Brian Stanley, 57, could face up to 15 years in prison and mandated sex offender registration if convicted of the alleged 2013 false imprisonment, which reportedly happened in Otsego.

Stanley allegedly used masking tape and other bindings to cover the boy's eyes and mouth, then left him alone for more than an hour before eventually letting him leave.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the false imprisonment charge Thursday.

An attorney general's office spokesperson could not confirm whether Stanley was living in Coloma at the time of the alleged false imprisonment.

The charge stems from documents taken from the Kalamazoo Diocese in October 2018, according to a release from the attorney general's office, which also alleges this was not the first time Stanley engaged in this type of criminal behavior.

Police did not pursue charges at the time of the incident because Stanley and the alleged victim reportedly said the restraint was a punishment for behavior problems and both parties agreed to it.

The boy's parents also reportedly approved of the "punishment."

"It is apparent from Archdiocese records that Stanley had been engaging in this type of conduct with the binding materials for decades," the release says. "This type of conduct is a sexually motivated crime."

The Kalamazoo Diocese released a statement saying, in part, that it "placed Father Stanley on administrative leave from active ministry in January 2017 and he is prohibited from public ministry."

Stanley is being held on a $100,000 bond for the felony false imprisonment charge. He is scheduled to be arraigned in the 57th District Court.