The creepy priest accused of stalking Conan O’Brien finally incurred the wrath of the Catholic Church yesterday – not for calling himself the “Late Night” host’s “most dangerous fan,” but for checking himself out of a medical-treatment center against the orders of the Boston Archdiocese.
Father David Ajemian, who had gotten off with a slap on the wrist and a $95 fine after copping in April to a disorderly conduct charge in Manhattan Supreme Court, had been instructed by Sean Cardinal O’Malley to remain indefinitely at an undisclosed facility.
But after the archdiocese learned Ajemian walked out of the facility yesterday, O’Malley said he would no longer be permitted to function as a priest.
“Our understanding is that he plans initially to return to Massachusetts to the care of his family,” read a statement by the archdiocese. “Ajemian made a promise of obedience to his bishop when he was ordained in 2001. By his own actions, he has violated this mandate from his bishop.”
Ajemian’s lawyer did not return a call for comment.
The priest, who suffers from bipolar disorder, was arrested in November while waiting on line at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a live taping of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”
He was wearing his collar at the time.
Ajemian was charged with stalking and two counts of aggravated harassment. His arrest came after nearly two years of bizarre behavior, including letters, phone calls to O’Brien’s parents and trips to California and Italy that just happened to coincide with O’Brien’s itinerary.
“This is your priest-stalker again, the one who has been tracking you through space and time . . . I paid $250 to fly down to NYC yesterday just to have a spot in the audience, in the dimming hope that you might finally acknowledge me,” he wrote to O’Brien on Feb. 20, 2007.
Police, with the cooperation of the Archdiocese of Boston, stepped up their investigation of Ajemian after he sent a postcard to O’Brien from Italy during the same time the comedian was visiting the country.
Ajemian served at St. Mary of the Assumption, a church just a mile from O’Brien’s parent’s home in Brookline, Mass. And the two attended Harvard at the same time in the 1980s and lived in the same dorm.
At the time of his guilty plea, Ajemian said he would not torment celebrities anymore. “He’s not going to bother anyone,” said defense lawyer Eric Seiff.
He also said he hoped to resume his work as a priest. Although he has not been defrocked, it is unlikely he will be able to work as a priest anytime soon, according to the archdiocese.
“He is absent without permission,” the diocese statement said. “He is not authorized to function as a priest.” With AP