In May 1970, Placa was ordained as a priest for the
Diocese of Rockville Centre. After his ordination, Placa began serving as a parish priest in
Glen Cove, and in 1974 was assigned to teach at
St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary. In 1978, Placa left Pius to attend
Hofstra University School of Law at the expense of the diocese as they were seeking an expert in social service law. Placa had admitted to consulting over 300 cases. This activity was allowed after sex abuse allegations by Placa, had been given to Bishop's office in the Diocese of Rockville Centre as well as another office had received abuse reports about Alan Placa. In April 2002, Placa was placed on an administrative leave of absence by the
Catholic Church following conflict of interest allegations. Several families of sexual abuse victims claimed that he had used his role as a spiritual adviser to gain information from victims to strengthen the diocese's legal position. In June 2002, Placa was stripped of his right to function as a priest by the diocese after the Nassau County District Attorney's Office announced that Placa was under investigation for sexual abuse, specifically that he molested a teenage seminarian 25 years ago. Three other alleged victims subsequently came forward claiming Placa sexually abused them. No criminal charges were filed. In August 2002, he was hired by Giuliani to work at his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners. He was subsequently cleared by a church tribunal. The Tribunal was to last six weeks according to David Berberian. It lasted over two years with the church delaying, rescheduling, and moving the tribunal dates repeatedly. The decision date by the church was completed after Alan Placa's 65th birthday, enabling him to be "exonerated" and immediately retire, by permission of Bishop Murphy of the Rockville Centre Diocese. Accuser/complainant Richard Tollner has never changed his testimony. In December 2009, the
Vatican upheld the tribunal's decision. ==References==