Boys Chorus Founder Accused of Abuse : Inquiry: Orange County priest is stripped of his clerical duties and ordered to sever all ties with the acclaimed singing group he organized. Five men say they were molested by him 10 to 30 years ago.

A prominent Orange County priest who founded an internationally known boys chorus has been stripped of his priestly duties and ordered to sever all ties with the singing group amid allegations that he sexually molested five youngsters 10 to 30 years ago.

Father Richard T. Coughlin, 68, denied the accusations.

But Coughlin “will no longer be allowed to function publicly as a priest,” and “permission granted him to engage in the . . . All-American Boys Chorus has been permanently withdrawn,” according to a letter dated Jan. 29 from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to the chorus’ board of directors.

Five men, ages 23 to 45, told the diocese that Coughlin molested them when they were boys, said Msgr. John Urell, who assisted in an investigation by a four-member diocesan team.

Diocese officials emphasized that none of the allegations involve current members of the chorus.

“I have absolutely no recollection, I swear to the Almighty, of these charges,” Coughlin said in an interview Tuesday.

“I certainly cannot say that I know that I did it because I can’t recollect anything. I’m a confused and very much destroyed man,” Coughlin said. He said that he cannot imagine why the men made the allegations, but he decided to resign on Dec. 28. He was replaced by assistant conductor David Albulario, a former choir member.

Urell said in an interview that the diocese decided the accusations had merit because “five people came forward and they are not connected.”

“It there’s smoke, perhaps there’s fire,” Urell said.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Mike Millington said he had been alerted by the diocese, which sent him a copy of the Jan. 29 letter. But Millington said no criminal investigation is under way because none of the men have filed a police report on the allegations.

The popular, gray-haired priest with a Boston accent directed the boys chorus--which has about 100 members, ages 9 to 14--since he founded it in 1970. The group has recorded three albums and appeared on worldwide tours, including concerts for Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.

Four of the five men who complained to the church were members of the chorus when the alleged molestations took place, Urell said. The chorus is a nonprofit, Costa Mesa-based group that is not affiliated with or funded by the Roman Catholic Church.

The fifth man who contacted the diocese accused Coughlin of molesting him when they were in Boston, where Coughlin worked in a parish and attended seminary school, Urell said.

Diocese officials would not describe what acts the men alleged or where they allegedly took place. But former chorus member Joe Beckman, 32, of Orange, told The Times that Coughlin kissed or fondled him 50 to 60 times when he sang with the group in 1970 and 1971. Beckman said he fears there may be more victims besides the five interviewed by the diocese.

“There’s victims walking around with this stuff,” Beckman said. “They need to know, their families need to know something happened.”

Beckman said he struggled for several years with anxiety and guilt after the alleged molestation. He said he sought counseling for several years afterward.

“I managed not to blame the church,” he said. “But I don’t go around thinking (priests) are gods anymore.”

Tony Manrique, a member of the choir board of directors and a former chorus member, said Coughlin resigned his post Dec. 28. Manrique said Coughlin told the board “there were serious problems in his life and he wanted to resign while he worked them out.”

Parents and volunteers were notified of Coughlin’s resignation by a letter, but several said they were unaware of the nature of the allegations until called Tuesday by reporters.

Some parents said Coughlin had longstanding health problems and they had assumed he resigned because of that. He had heart and prostate surgery last year.

“We haven’t heard of any allegations of any sort,” said one mother and longtime volunteer who spoke on the condition that she not be identified. She said her son graduated and left the chorus last year. “My connection with the chorus has been long-running and I never heard or saw any problems like that,” she said.

Coughlin, who worked full time for the chorus until he was forced to resign, has not taught or been associated with a parish in several years. He taught at St. Michael’s Prep School, a small Catholic boarding school for boys in El Toro, from 1974 until 1989, and formerly served St. John the Baptist parish in Costa Mesa and St. Anthony Claret parish in Anaheim.

The ensemble grew from an Anaheim parish youth project of 11 boys who practiced with a church organist to at least 500 boys and a $500,000 annual budget, financed through private fund-raising, concert fees and album sales.

Among the chorus’ credits are a television commercial for TWA and performances with Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Henry Winkler, Victor Borge and Steve Allen.

The chorus, which sings everything from Broadway show tunes to Dixieland to Sousa marches, has recorded a Christmas release with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Coughlin had likened himself to a high school coach, and exhibited concern over who would take his place as he aged.

“I was hoping I could start something that would endure. That’s still my motivation. I set a goal of 500 years, like the Vienna Boys Choir,” he said in a 1990 interview. “We want this to go to the moon, and beyond the moon.”