BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB [Buffalo NY]
December 16, 2025
By Trina Catterson
For over 20 years, Ann Fossler stayed silent about sexual abuse she experienced from a Buffalo Diocese Catholic priest. Now, she is committed to telling her story.
Fossler was a parishioner of Queen of Heaven Church in West Seneca back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She said from the ages of 6 to 10, she was sexually abused by Monsignor John M. Ryan, a former superintendent of Catholic schools for the Buffalo Diocese.
At a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Fossler recounted the years of sexual abuse she experienced from Father Ryan, saying he molested her over 20 times.
“It happened often in his car,” said Fossler. “He also had a cabin in the woods. So, it was in the car and then in the cabin in the woods. There was never anybody else present. It wasn’t a situation like a retreat or anything.”
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents dozens of clergy sexual abuse survivors who have filed claims in the Diocese of Buffalo bankruptcy, said Father Ryan became interwoven with Fossler’s family.
“He would come over for meals frequently,” said Garabedian. “Her family thought it was fine that she took these trips with Father Ryan.”
Fossler said she kept the abuse a secret for years because she feared her parents, who were devoted Catholics and friends of Father Ryan, would be crushed by the revelation.
“My parents were Irish Catholics, they’re very identity was being Catholic,” said Fossler. “I felt that would destroy them. Even later in life when I was more aware of what had happened, I felt I would be destroying them and their very identity.”
Fossler explained the experience has left her with lifelong trauma.
“It affected my childhood, my adulthood. I believe there is intergenerational trauma that gets caused by all of this,” said Fossler. “I was so young when my abuse occurred, I really didn’t have a childhood. I lost my innocence quite early.”
Earlier this week, abuse survivors in the Diocese of Buffalo’s bankruptcy case asked a federal judge for the opportunity to speak directly to the court and the diocese through voluntary statements.
Fossler said the truth needs to come out so the abuse and what she describes as a “cover up” can never happen again.
“Like most people who have been abused, I was sure I was the only one,” said Fossler. “I stayed very involved in the church because I thought Father Ryan was a fluke. I had no idea until much later in my life that this was a systemic problem.”
Fossler plans to travel from Pennsylvania to speak out in the victim listening sessions as she hopes it will help her further her healing journey.
The two days of sessions will initially be scheduled for January and February with the possibility of additional dates if needed.