A Catholic priest busted in Frederick for jogging in the buff before sunrise has been placed on administrative leave, the Archdiocese of Denver confirmed today.

The Rev. Robert Whipkey, 53, faces an indecent exposure charge after a Frederick officer encountered the naked cleric walking down the street at 4:35 a.m. on June 22.

The pastor said he runs in the nude because his large size makes him "sweat profusely" if he wears jogging clothes, according to a police report. Whipkey said he'd jogged around the high school track in the predawn darkness because he didn't think anyone would see him at that hour.

"I know what I did was wrong," he said, according to police.

The officer said when he shined his flashlight at the man, he covered himself with a piece of clothing he was carrying.

The archdiocese's Vicar of the Clergy Bernard Schmitz announced Whipkey's administrative leave last night at a meeting with parish workers and lay leaders in Frederick, said Jeanette De Melo, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Denver.

Meeting participants included members from the three parishes where Whipkey serves as pastor: St. Theresa church in Frederick, Guardian Angels church in Mead and St. Scholastica church in Erie.

"The archdiocese has been handling this situation and evaluating it from the very first day we got the information," De Melo said.

Asked if the archdiocese had received complaints about Whipkey, she said: "I know that there have been no allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.

"Obviously, that is something that we are very, very attentive to and act on immediately whenever we have an allegation of sexual abuse," she added.

However, the archdiocese was not notified about Whipkey's indecent exposure allegation until a week after the incident in the Weld County town about 20 miles north of Denver, De Melo said.

Whipkey did not return a telephone call this morning.

His attorney, Doug Tisdale, told the Longmont Times-Call that Whipkey had no comment.

If convicted of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, he would have to register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486

The Associated Press contributed to this report