Assignment History– Rev. Chester John "Chet" Warren, o.s.f.s. In 1985 a young woman, Barbara Blaine, reported to the Oblates and later to the diocese that Warren had sexually abused her from the time she was a 13-year-old 7th-grader in 1969 at St. Pius the X school until she was a senior in high school. She said the order told her that no one else had complained about Warren. In 1989 Blaine founded the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). After she named Warren publicly in 1992, two women contacted her to say that they, too, had been sexually abused by the priest as girls; both said they reported the abuse to Warren's superiors in the early 1970s. By 2002 at least eight women had come forward with similar allegations. In 2003 a woman said she was abused by Warren as a preschooler in the context of ritual abuse involving a group of priests. In a 2005 press conference a nun stated that she was raped by Warren at age 6. In 2004 Warren was discovered by the Toledo SNAP leader to have been living with a retired schoolteacher who operated a tutoring service in her home, a service that was advertised in parish bulletins. The diocese subsequently sent a letter to its schools informing them of the situation. In 2005, as part of a settlement agreement, Toledo Bishop Blair publicly apologized to the plaintiff, to St. Pius X parishioners and to victims of abuse by clergy elsewhere in the diocese. He said of Warren, "...the allegations have proven to be true ." In 2006 Warren was barred by a judge from attending a parish Eucharistic chapel after families complained that he was showing up at all hours, sometimes in clerical garb, despite having been ordered to attend only at certain times. Warren could not be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children. |
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| Start | Stop | Assignments | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1957 Archdiocese of Philadelphia Archbishop was John Francis O'Hara, C.S.C. (1951-1960). |
1960 | Father Judge High School for Boys | Philadelphia | PA | Father Judge High School had 2,572-2,692 students.
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1960 Diocese of Toledo Bishop was George John Rehring (1950-1967). |
1963 | Brisson House of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales | Toledo
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1963 Rehring was succeeded by John Anthony Donovan (1967-1980). |
1974 | St. Pius X | Toledo • In 1985 a woman, Barbara Blaine, reported to the Oblates and later to the diocese that Warren had sexually abused her beginning when she was age 13 in 1969, and ending when she was a senior in high school. She said Warren told her she was holier than the other kids, and that no one would believe her if she told. Warren also told her that what had happened was a mortal sin and, in order to receive communion, she had to go to confession, and that if she didn't go to communion people would grow suspicious. Barbara would ride her bike to other churches for confession after being molested. • After Blaine came forward publicly in 1992, two other women contacted her to say that Warren had abused them as girls, too. Both said they reported the abuse to his superiors in the early 1970s. • By 2002 at least eight women had alleged abuse as girls, ages 13-17, in the 1970s by Warren. • In June 2003 a 41-year-old woman told the diocesan review board that, beginning when she was a preschooler in the 1960s, Warren sexually abused her in the context of ritual abuse with a group of priests. She said that Warren arranged for other priests to sexually abuse her, including Rev. Gerald Robinson, who was convicted in 2006 of the 1980 murder of Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl. • In a 2005 press conference, a Notre Dame nun shared that Warren sexually abused her as child, remembering rape at age 6 and, at age 9, being given a cookie by him and told she was "a good girl" that day. |
OH | 2/2, 2/4, 2/3 | St. Pius X had a school with 383-201 students, "Vacation School" until 1965 with 74 students, and "Instruction Classes" with 48-155 students. Blaine said the order told her that no one else had complained about Warren, and they refused to remove him from ministry. A correspondence in 1970 between a girl and the Oblates' general superior indicates that the order knew then about Warren's sexual abuse of girls. Blaine said she was told, too, by the order that Warren was being closely monitored. However, she said she received a call from a woman years later who told her that Warren abused her in 1990, after Barbara had come forward. In 1989 Blaine founded the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). She died at age 61 in September 2017 after a sudden cardiac event. |
1974 Archdiocese of Detroit Archbishop was John Francis Deardon (1958-1980). |
1978 | St. Paschal Baylon's | Taylor | MI | 2/2 | |
1978 Diocese of Toledo Bishop was John Anthony Donovan (1967-1980), followed by James Robert Hoffman (1980-2003). |
1992 | Oblates of St. Francis de Sales | Toledo | OH | Warren resided at the St. Francis de Sales High School faculty house 1986-1992. | |
| 1985 | 1992 | St. Vincent Medical Center | Toledo | OH | chaplain | Warren is not indexed beyond the 1993 Directory. Warren was placed on leave in September 1992, just before Barbara Blaine's story was mentioned on the Oprah Winfrey show. She had informed the Oblates that she was going to reveal Warren's name on air. He was dismissed from the order a year or two later and was barred from ministry in the diocese. |
1992 Hoffman was succeeded as Toledo bishop by Leonard Paul Blair (2003-2013). |
Suspended from Ministry | Toledo | OH | In 2005 Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair addressed parishioners of St. Pius X, apologizing to those in the parish and elsewhere in the diocese who had suffered abuse by clergy. He stated, further, "I am here to tell you that the allegations have proven to be true." Part of the statement was required by a settlement between the diocese and another Warren victim, Teresa Bombrys. Brombys said Warren sexually abused her when she was in fourth to seventh grades at St. Pius X school. She also alleged ritual abuse by a group of priests. Warren went on to reside with an old friend, a retired schoolteacher who ran a private tutoring service. In 2000 he wrote a letter of recommendation regarding his friend's service, on stationary that said "From the Desk of Father Chet Warren." He wrote that he had, "observed her tutoring at home for many years." The service was advertised in church bulletins. In 2004 Toledo SNAP leader Claudia Vercelotti contacted the diocese and Children's Services regarding the situation. As a result, in 2005, the diocese sent a letter to its 30 schools that the tutor "...lives with or associates with a former priest who is a known child molester, and that the man is in the residence while tutoring is taking place." In 2006 Warren was barred by a judge from visiting the Eucharistic Chapel at Blessed Sacrament parish after families expressed alarm that he was attending at all hours, in violation of an agreement that he visit the chapel only at specified times. Also, he would sometimes show up wearing clerical garb. Warren could not be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children. |
Priests in a Parish: We use the following
convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means
that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually
the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand
3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample
page from the Directory. • Believers Betrayed, by Michael D. Sallah and David Yonke, Toledo Blade, December 1, 2002 |
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