Irwin church looking to identify 2 teens who allegedly tampered with organ, sound system

Two teenagers who the Immaculate Conception Church in Irwin say damaged the organ and sound system on Friday have been identified after surveillance video was posted by the church on social media Monday night.

Parishioners of the church were upset to hear about what happened.

“It’s unfortunate this has happened in society,” said Helen Meigs. “Young people today don’t seem to know about consequences and suffering anything after they’ve done something bad.”

Police said the two made their way into the open church and upstairs to the choir loft.   Investigators think the damage may have been accidental.

“It doesn’t seem like they were going in there to vandalize anything,” Irwin Police Chief Dan Wensel told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “They were just rooting around, pressed some buttons on an organ, pulled some knobs that unfortunately did some damage, unintentionally, we believe.”

The organ and sound system was unusable for two of the First Holy Communion masses on Saturday.

“It was an important sacramental day for our parish, and the children and their families were affected by the two teenager’s actions. All churches are sacred places which should be treated with respect,” the church said on Facebook.

The church posted the videos Monday night, and within hours, the teens had been identified.

“The community was great in helping us,” Wensel said. “We got a lot of tips in here almost immediately when that was posted.”

One of the teen’s moms messaged Channel 11 on Facebook saying she is not okay with her son’s behavior.

Wensel said Father John Moineau at the church is talking with the teens and their families before filing any charges.

“If the church wants to pursue criminal charges, they absolutely could,” Wensel said. “There could be criminal mischief charges filed against these juveniles.”

“It’s good because maybe they’ll see the light of day that there’s good people out there, and you don’t have to do this for attention,” said Heidi, another parishioner.

Police said this could be a lesson for other teens as well.

“Just think about what you’re doing,” Wensel said. “Accidents happen, and now look at this case right here.”

The Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg declined to comment.

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