ST. BONAVENTURE (NY)
Olean Times Herald
November 9, 2018
By Tom Dinki
Alleged abuse occurred in 1948
A longtime and now-deceased St. Bonaventure University friar had a child sexual abuse allegation against him stemming out of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The Rev. Maurice Scheier, who worked at St. Bonaventure for nearly 60 years prior to his death in 1991, was among the 36 additional priests identified Monday by the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo as being credibly accused of child sex abuse.
While Buffalo Diocese did not specify the allegations, a claim against Scheier was detailed in a 2004 Los Angeles Archdiocese report on clergy sex abuse.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese has since removed the names of accused priests from the online version of this report, citing the list as “outdated.” But both Jeff Anderson & Associates, a Minnesota law firm that represents clergy sex abuse victims, and BishopAccountability.org, which tracks clergy sex abuse, report on their websites that the 2004 report previously stated one person accused Scheier of abuse and the alleged abuse occurred in 1948.
A St. Bonaventure official told the Olean Times Herald Thursday the claim against Scheier was not made until 2004 — 13 years after Scheier’s death. The official said the university was still gathering information, but planned to release a full statement today on Scheier’s inclusion in the Los Angeles report.
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