PITTSBURGH (PA)
WPXI TV
November 15, 2018
More than 100 local priests were named in the Pennsylvania grand jury diocese abuse report released in August.
Channel 11 has worked tirelessly going through those names to investigate the allegations against priests in our local communities. We started looking into one priest’s background in particular after we found a police report saying there was evidence to substantiate claims against him.
The Rev. Robert Moslener was placed on leave from the Greensburg diocese in 2002 after multiple allegations of sexual abuse of minors. Those allegations are all documented in the grand jury report.
According to the report, bishops William Connare and Anthony Bosco allowed Moslener to prey on children for 22 years after the first complaint.
In 1980, after the first allegation of inappropriate behavior with a 15-year-old boy, Moslener was sent for evaluation. An internal diocesan document called it “an unacceptable yet understandable waystation on his path to more adult sexual integration.”
Claims that the leaders of these dioceses knew about abuse and didn’t do enough to stop it have bothered state leaders and parishioners alike.
“What’s now the most outrageous part is clearly people in authority knew for not just a couple days, but for decades, and this is clear evidence right here,” said state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
During his career, Moslener was moved between 10 different parishes. In 1986, six years after the first allegation, North Huntingdon police launched an investigation into Moslener and acts involving male juveniles.
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