BALTIMORE (MD)
WBAL-TV, NBC-11 [Baltimore MD]
June 30, 2023
By Greg Ng
The list of priests and brothers accused of child sexual abuse grew by dozens of names, the Archdiocese of Baltimore announced on Friday.
The archdiocese voluntarily began publishing its online list in 2002. The addition of the names comes after Baltimore Archbishop William Lori made a recommendation to the Independent Review Board and is an acknowledgment of the Maryland attorney general’s recommendation that the archdiocese expand the list.
“Today’s transparency and culture of child protection in the church certainly does not erase the untold trauma, deep pain and lasting anguish of those who have been impacted by child sexual abuse,” Lori said in a statement.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office spent years on an investigation before it released a report in April that paints a damning picture of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which is the oldest Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of Maryland. The report found more than 150 Catholic priests and other Maryland clergy sexually abused more than 600 children and perpetually escaped accountability.
Thirty-nine individuals appear in the attorney general’s report but were not included on the archdiocese’s list, which has different criteria than that used in the attorney general’s report.
According to the archdiocese, a majority of the 39 individuals were not previously named on the archdiocese’s website for one of three reasons:
- The alleged perpetrator is neither a priest nor a religious brother. (The archdiocese’s list has not included lay people, religious sisters or deacons.)
- The alleged perpetrator never had an assignment in ministry in the archdiocese.
- The alleged perpetrator was first accused of abuse after death and is the subject of a single, uncorroborated allegation.
The archdiocese said none of the 39 people named have served in Catholic ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore for years.
The archdiocese also added information to its list of three additional clergy who meet its criteria for inclusion: Phillip Linden, Michael Miller, and Joseph O’Meara.
Allegations of abuse dates back to the 1930s.
The names added to the list
* denotes a name previously listed in the archdiocese’s initial publication made in 2002
- Louis Affrica (deceased)
- Michael Amy
- James Avant*
- Francis Bach (deceased)
- Bruce E. Ball (deceased)*
- John Banko (deceased)*
- Michael L. Barber
- Michael Barnes (deceased)
- Thomas Bauernfeind (deceased)*
- W. Vincent Bechtel (deceased)
- John F.X. Bellwoar (deceased)
- Ronald Belschner
- Thomas Bevan
- Maurice Blackwell*
- Louis Bonacci
- John Bostwick
- Francis C. Bourbon (deceased)
- H. Cornell Bradley
- William A. Braun (deceased)
- Laurence Brett (deceased)*
- Frederick Brinkmann*
- Joseph F. Brocato
- Gerald Bugge (deceased)*
- William Burns
- C. Jeffries Burton (deceased)
- Robert Callahan (deceased)
- John Carney (deceased)*
- Douglas Carroll*
- Robert Cofenas (deceased)
- John J. Corbett (deceased)
- Brian Cox*
- Charles Coyle (deceased)
- Fernando Cristancho
- Robert B. Cullen (deceased)
- Joseph Davies (deceased)
- Richard Deakin*
- Alfred Dean
- Douglas Dempster
- Donald Dimitroff*
- Francis E. Dolan
- James Dowdy*
- Thomas Joseph Doyle (deceased)
- Robert W. Duerr (deceased)
- John Duggan (deceased)*
- Frederick Duke (deceased)*
- Walter Emala (deceased)*
- Luigi Esposito
- Alfred Ewanowski (deceased)
- Kenneth Farabaugh (deceased)*
- Carl A. Fisher (deceased)
- Sylvan Fondriest (deceased)
- Daniel Free (deceased)
- Joseph J. Gallagher (deceased)*
- John Gallen (deceased)
- George Gardiner
- Stephen M. Garrity (deceased)
- John Geinzer
- Joseph Gerg*
- Steven Girard (deceased)
- Mark Haight*
- John Hammer*
- Thomas Harrison
- Edward Heilman (deceased)
- Marion Helowicz*
- Joseph Hill (deceased)
- George L. Hopkins (deceased)
- Joseph H. Hopkins (deceased)
- Robert F. Hopkins (deceased)*
- Guillermo Izquierdo (deceased)
- Stephen Jeselnick
- Albert Julian (deceased)
- Thomas F. Kelly
- Joseph Kenney (deceased)
- Simon E. Kenny (deceased)
- Walter Anthony Klick (deceased)
- Paul Knapp*
- Michael Kolodziej
- Joseph Krach (deceased)
- William Earl “Jay” Krouse
- Joseph Kruse*
- Michael Kuhn
- Michael LaMountain (deceased)*
- Xavier Langan (deceased)
- James V. Lannon (deceased)
- Ross LaPorta (deceased)*
- Regis F. Larkin (deceased)
- Thomas B. Lee*
- Francis LeFevre*
- Robert Lentz (deceased)
- Robert Aloysius Lindemann (deceased)
- Phillip Linden
- John Lippold (deceased)
- Robert J. Lochner (deceased)
- Arthur Long (deceased)
- Anthony Lorento*
- George Loskarn (deceased)*
- E. Neil Magnus (deceased)
- Ronald Mardaga*
- Kenneth Martin*
- A. Joseph Maskell (deceased)*
- Arthur Maurer (deceased)*
- Benedict Mawn (deceased)
- John J. McCarthy (deceased)
- William F. McCarthy
- Francis McGrath*
- Eugene Ambrose McGuire (deceased)
- Neil P. McLaughlin
- John J. McMahon
- Lawrence C. Meegan
- Raymond Melville*
- Ronald Michaud*
- Robert Michele
- William Migliorini (deceased)
- John Mike*
- Michael Miller
- Jerome A. Moody (deceased)
- William Morgan (deceased)
- Thomas Morrissey
- Timothy Murphy (deceased)*
- J. Glenn Murray
- Robert Newman*
- Joseph O’Meara
- Garrett D. Orr
- Claude L. Ory
- Donald J. O’Toole
- Henry O’Toole*
- John Padian (deceased)
- John B. Peacock (deceased)
- Dennis Pecore*
- Adrian Poletti (deceased)
- Edward Powers
- William Presley (deceased)
- Blair Raum (deceased)
- Thomas Rochacewcz*
- Francis Roscetti (deceased)
- Charles Rouse*
- Thomas Rydzewski*
- Michael Salerno
- John Joseph Sheehan
- Edward A. Sheehy (deceased)
- William Simms (deceased)*
- David Smith*
- Richard Smith (deceased)
- Thomas Smith (deceased)*
- Michael Spillane*
- Carl Steffen (deceased)
- Edmund Stroup (deceased)*
- Francis Sweeney (deceased)*
- Alcuin W. Tasch (deceased)
- Joseph A. Thibault
- Jerome Toohey*
- James Toulas (deceased)*
- Gerald Tragesser (deceased)*
- Urbano Vazquez-Ortega
- Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez
- William Virtue
- Rudolph T. Vorisek (deceased)
- William J. Walsh (deceased)
- William Wehrle (deceased)*
- John Wielebski
- John F. Wilson/Shine
- Howard F. Yeakle (deceased)
- Raynor Ziemski (deceased)
| LINK: List of names with additional detail (Archdiocese of Baltimore)
Anyone with information about child sexual abuse is asked to call law enforcement, and the archdiocese asks for people to also call its victim’s assistance line at 866-417-7469. The Archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection can also be reached by calling 410-547-5348.
RECENT TIMELINE
Maryland Attorney General’s Church Sex Abuse Investigation
In the 1990s, the Archdiocese of Baltimore received complaints of sexual abuse involving some of its priests dating back decades.
Our sister station, WCVB, reported the clergy sex abuse scandal exploded in Boston in 2002 after The Boston Globe revealed that dozens of priests had molested and raped children for decades, while church supervisors covered it up and shuffled abusive priests from parish to parish.
In 2018, a sweeping Pennsylvania grand jury report accused senior church officials of systematically covering up complaints involving more than 1,000 children who were molested by roughly 300 Roman Catholic priests since the 1940s.
More victims in Baltimore came forward thereafter, leading the diocese to publish the names of dozens of clergy members accused of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1950s. The Maryland attorney general’s opened an investigation in 2018 that ultimately revealed decades of child sexual abuse and leadership’s efforts to cover it up.
The following is a timeline of the events that followed.
June 1, 2017
The Netflix documentary series “The Keepers” reveals a long-standing and baffling cold case, focusing on a Baltimore County police investigation into the disappearance and killing of Sister Cathy Cesnik. – Story
June 2, 2017
“The Keepers” focuses on a killing and years of molestation at a Baltimore high school, and it has helped to bring more victims to light. – Story
June 6, 2017
The story of young women who say they were abused at Archbishop Keough High School in the late 1960s through the early 1970s is highlighted in “The Keepers.” – Watch: Victim speaks out to 11 News
Aug. 16, 2018
Baltimore sexual abuse victims hope release of grand jury report in Pennsylvania will lead to action in Maryland. – Story
Sept. 25, 2018
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh launches a review of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. – Story
Nov. 9, 2018
11 News I-Team Exclusive: Baltimore Archbishop William Lori addresses church sex abuse scandal: “We have to be held to the same high standard we hold our priests and lay employees and volunteers to. We should have the same standards and the same consequence.” – Watch
April 24, 2019
The archdiocese announces an additional 23 names of deceased priests and brothers previously and credibly accused of child sexual abuse to the diocese’s online list. – Story
Nov. 17, 2022
Frosh files a motion to release an investigative report of child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. – Story
Nov. 18, 2022
Court issues ruling, redacted report can be released after redacted copy is prepared.
– Story
Feb. 24, 2023
Sexual abuse survivors call on report to be released, investigation expanded. – Story
March 15, 2023
Court receives redacted report for review. – Story
April 4, 2023
Judge authorizes report’s release. – Story
April 5, 2023
Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office released the report, which reveals decades of child sexual abuse and the archdiocese leadership’s efforts to cover it up. The report lists 156 current or former Catholic clergy, seminarians, deacons, teachers at Catholic schools, others as having abused hundreds of children.
– Read the Report | Victims | List of Abusers | Exclusive: Lori responds | Signs to watch for
The same day of the report’s release, the Maryland House bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases, the Child Victims Act of 2023, was approved and sent to the governor. – Previous Report on the Bill
April 14, 2023
A reignited controversy over naming names is brewing over the attorney general’s report on child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The archdiocese posted a new FAQ page on its website about the attorney general’s report. The attorney general’s office released a series of statements, saying most of what the archdiocese said is untrue, misleading and unfair to survivors. – Story
May 9, 2023
Attorneys Ben Crump and Adam Slater put the Archdiocese of Baltimore on notice for lawsuits months before a new state law eliminates the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits. (Story)