MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press
Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press September 30, 2014
For years, Mike Baitinger knew Father Kurtz as a friendly, kind and trusted man.
Kurtz was his confirmation sponsor and very involved in his hockey team at University of Detroit Jesuit High School in Detroit. Kurtz led the team prayers.
On Monday night, more than a decade after Baitinger’s high school graduation, that image was shattered.
Baitinger, now 30, learned in a Free Press article that his former confirmation and trusted school priest had been charged with child pornography crimes. Richard James Kurtz, 69, a Jesuit priest and former chemistry teacher at U-D Jesuit, is accused of videotaping hockey players while they changed in the locker room during the 1998-99 season.
Baitinger was a freshman that year. He played hockey. His mind went numb.
“First it was shock. And the second emotion was anger,” Baitinger said. “I was angry that this could happen, angry that he was doing this.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.