UNITED STATES
Telegraph (UK)
Rebecca Hawkes
20 APRIL 2017
In Baltimore, Maryland, in 1969, a 26-year-old Catholic nun was murdered and her suspected killers, alleged abusers and paedophiles, left free to their continue their crimes.
Years later, a new seven-part Netflix series, the forthcoming The Keepers, has thrust the case into the public eye – and, judging by its gripping trailer, may have uncovered new evidence about a decades-old cover-up.
But the release of The Keepers is just the latest chapter in a long, ongoing story, which encompasses not just a murder, but a probable paedophilia ring, and deep-set corruption on the part of police force and church officials in Baltimore.
In 2015 The Huffington Post published an in-depth piece on the case, focusing on the stories of the former Catholic schoolgirls who came forwards, years later, to share their stories of the sexual abuse they endured at Archbishop Kenough High School, and their memories of the charismatic young teacher, Sister Catherine “Cathy” Cesnik, who promised to help them – and later ended up dead.
The key events from the case
November 1969: Sister Cathy Cesnik disappears
Cesnik, a popular teacher at the all-girls Archbishop Kenough High School, disappeared after leaving the flat she shared with another nun, Sister Helen Russell Phillips, on November 7 1969. When she hadn’t returned by 11pm, Phillips became concerned and called two priests, Father Gerald J. Koob and Father Peter McKeon, who later contacted the police. Cesnik’s car was discovered nearby, parked illegally (and away from her usual spot).
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