BALTIMORE (MD)
The Baltimore Banner [Baltimore MD]
October 30, 2025
By Dylan Segelbaum
A former Catholic priest who’s accused of sexually abusing a boy in the 1990s has signaled that he could call key players in the Maryland attorney general’s investigation into the Archdiocese of Baltimore as witnesses at trial.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General in 2023 released a 456-page report that detailed how 156 priests and other personnel perpetrated “horrific and repeated abuse” as church leaders turned a blind eye.
Investigators looked into allegations against the Rev. William Mannion Jr. but declined to name him in the report. But now, the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office is prosecuting him.
In court documents filed this month, Mannion’s attorney, Charles Waechter, wrote that he will call 10 witnesses, including Elizabeth Embry, who led the investigation into the archdiocese, and Richard Wolf, a criminal investigator.
Waechter said he did not have any additional information to share.
A spokesperson for the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Kelsey Hartman, declined to comment. Embry, who is now a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from Baltimore, could not immediately be reached.
Mannion, 63, of Sparrows Point, who was known as Father Bill, is accused of sexually abusing a former altar server and student at St. Agnes Catholic School in Catonsville for several years. He maintains his innocence.
He’s charged in Baltimore County Circuit Court with child abuse and sex offenses.
The case has divided the area’s Catholic community, as some have tried to poke holes in the accusations and point out that Mannion has acted as an advocate for survivors.
Mannion helped bring down John Merzbacher, a notorious former teacher at the Catholic Community School of Baltimore who victimized dozens of children.
Merzbacher, 81, died of natural causes in 2023 at Eastern Correctional Institution, where he was serving four life sentences.
In 1998, Mannion left the priesthood, married and started a family. He started working at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center as a case manager and later became a nurse in the psychiatric unit.
The Vatican in 2004 laicized him.
Mannion is scheduled to stand trial on Feb. 10, 2026. He’s out of the Baltimore County Detention Center on home detention.
dylan.segelbaum@thebaltimorebanner.com
Dylan Segelbaum is the courts reporter at The Baltimore Banner.
Read previous coverage of the case against the Rev. William Mannion Jr.
- New criminal case targets old allegations against priest, dividing Catholic community
- Ex-priest accused of sex abuse in Baltimore County indicted on 15 charges
- Ex-Catholic priest accused of child sex abuse eligible for home detention, judge rules
- Ex-priest who helped report notorious abuser now charged with sex abuse from 1990s