Priest who died in 2004 accused of sexual abuse at Central Catholic in 1960s

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

February 7, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh on Thursday said it received an accusation of sexual abuse of a minor against a lay brother teaching at Central Catholic High School who later became a priest.

The allegation against Father John O’Brien, who died in 2004, dates to the mid-1960s.

No details were released about the alleged abuse.

Father O’Brien was a Christian brother known as Brother Firmilian John at the time of the alleged abuse. He was ordained as a priest in 1975.

It’s the first accusation that the diocese or the Christian Brothers have received against Father O’Brien, according to the diocese.

He was not one of the Pittsburgh-area priests whose names were released in last year’s grand jury report about clergy sex abuse in six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses.

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