PARKERSBURG (WV)
News and Sentinel
Dec. 4, 2019
A man’s allegation he was sexually molested as a child by former Roman Catholic bishop Michael Bransfield should be investigated again, by both church and law enforcement authorities.
Bransfield, who headed the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston for 13 years, dismisses the story as coming from “a wack job.” Church officials point out it was investigated twice previously. Evidence to support the allegation was lacking, they say.
But one fact argues strongly in favor of taking another look into the matter: Bransfield got away with so much, for so long, while he was bishop. Is the old child sex abuse accusation part of his record?
A Washington Post story lays out the new/old accusation. It stems from Bransfield’s time as chaplain at Lansdale Catholic High School, in Philadelphia, during the 1970s.
In 2007, a former student called church authorities, telling them that Bransfield on several occasions touched him inappropriately. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia told the Post, “I can say with certainty that this matter was not only investigated internally. It was reviewed by law enforcement on two occasions and no criminal charges were filed.”
Church officials dismissed the complaint because of inconsistencies in the man’s story. The former student said law enforcement investigations were hindered and ultimately dropped because he could not be guaranteed his identity would be kept secret. The first church investigation concluded in 2009, in a report that was kept confidential. It was looked into a second time in 2012, with similar results.
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