PITTSBURGH (PA)
Penn Record
September 12, 2018
By Nicholas Malfitano
In the wake of the recent release of a state grand jury report on the subject of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy in Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh-area man and two former area residents have launched legal action against the Diocese of Pittsburgh, claiming it fraudulently concealed their abuse and that of other victims.
James A. Saitta of Bethel Park, David M. Rebholz of Hope, R.I. and Heather L. Taylor of San Diego filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 6 and 7 versus The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, its Bishop David A. Zubik and Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, all of Pittsburgh.
Plaintiffs’ Individual Allegations of Abuse
In his lawsuit, Saitta, now 51 years old, claims he was the victim of more than five years of sexual abuse at the hands of Rev. John S. Hoehl, spanning 1979 to 1985 and beginning when he was 12 years old. Hoehl was then serving at St. Francis Church on Pittsburgh’s North Side and became acquainted with the plaintiff and his family, who asked Hoehl to counsel Saitta prior to his entry to high school.
“Hoehl performed this counseling session with plaintiff alone his summer cabin in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Starting at this time, Hoehl began sexually abusing plaintiff, which included the following acts: Kissing, fondling and engaging in oral sex with plaintiff. This abuse continued on numerous occasions from 1979 until plaintiff graduated from Kiski Prep High School in 1985. The abuse occurred both at Hoehl’s summer cabin and at the rectory in Quigley Catholic High School,” Saitta’s suit states.
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