Priests Who Sexually Abused Children Sent to Holland Landing's Southdown
By Lisa Queen
Once located in Aurora and now in Holland Landing, the Catholic Church’s Southdown Institute, which treats clergy with addictions and mental health struggles, has operated behind a shroud of secrecy since its 1966 founding. But an explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report released in mid-August shone a light on how the church sent priests who sexually abused children to the facility before reassigning them to unsuspecting parishes. Tim Lennon, president of the board of directors of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), called church treatment centres like Southdown a “dumping ground” for abusive priests. Seven predatory priests from Pennsylvania alone were sent to Southdown, the grand jury report said. That included Father John S. Hoehl, who sodomized two teenaged boys who agreed to change places with a girl the priest intended to rape. It also included Father Michael G. Barletta, who admitted abusing 25 children, including at his own private camp in a secluded part of Pennsylvania. Treated twice at Southdown was Father Michael Robert Freeman, who admitted sexually violating children in at least five of six ministry assignments. Among other victims, a boy of about 11-years-old said Father William P. O’Malley III provided him with alcohol and later climbed into bed with him, removed his shorts and fondled him. Father Benedict J. Van de Putten was accused of having “predatory behaviour” after committing indecent acts with under aged girls. Meanwhile, at least one York Region priest who sexually assaulted children, the late Father Barry Glendinning, who served at Our Lady of Grace in Aurora in the 1980s, also received treatment at Southdown.
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