NEWPORT NEWS (VA)
WVEC-TV, ABC-13 [Hampton VA]
May 26, 2023
Joseph O’Brien told a reporter at The Baltimore Sun that he is listed as “redacted defendant number 154” in the case.
A Newport News man has reportedly admitted to being named in the Maryland Attorney General’s report of sexual assault in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The AG released the redacted report back in April but in a story published by The Baltimore Sun on Friday, a man named Joseph O’Brien revealed that he’s named in the report.
O’Brien told a reporter at the Sun that he is listed as “redacted defendant number 154” in the case.
The report details the accusations against each clergy member.
According to the report, O’Brien’s sexual assault allegations stem from an incident in the 1970s.
A woman reported that O’Brien was an associate pastor at her high school prayer group. He offered to take her home after the meetings, where he formed a relationship with her and started to make sexual advances.
According to the report, sometime before 1974, the victim told the parish priest what was happening and she never saw O’Brien again.
She didn’t officially report the sexual abuse to the archdiocese until 2002.
According to a spokesperson, the Archdiocese of Baltimore has paid more than $13 million to at least 300 victims of abuse since the 1980s.