SAGINAW (MI)
Huron Daily Tribune [Bad Axe MI]
June 26, 2026
By Katy Snodgrass
[See also the full report on the Diocese of Saginaw.]
Former Bad Axe priest Jack Leipert was among the clergy members named in a Michigan attorney general’s report released Thursday, June 25, detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct in the Diocese of Saginaw. The report was released for informational purposes only and is not a criminal finding or conviction.
The 258-page report identifies allegations involving 37 priests and one deacon who served in the Diocese of Saginaw across more than 75 years.
Leipert, who served as pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bad Axe from 1990 until June 10, 2001, was one of seven diocesan priests listed by the Diocese of Saginaw as having a “credible allegation” of sexual abuse of a minor. The diocese also listed one deacon. All were permanently removed from ministry.
The report details allegations, police investigations, internal church correspondence and canonical proceedings involving Leipert from the 1970s through 2000. According to the report, he was suspended from ministry on June 27, 2001, about two and a half weeks after leaving Sacred Heart.
In 2004, a diocesan canonical investigation found allegations involving 14 young men had “at least the semblance of truth,” and Leipert’s case was referred to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Leipert was laicized, or removed from the clerical state, in 2006.
The attorney general’s report states no criminal charges were filed against priests of the Diocese of Saginaw as a result of the investigation, largely because many allegations involved conduct that predated changes in state law, fell outside statutes of limitation or involved deceased clergy.
This was the sixth of seven reports expected from the Department of Attorney General’s investigation into clergy abuse in Michigan’s six dioceses and the Archdiocese of Detroit.
For more information on the Attorney General’s clergy abuse investigation or to submit information, visit www.michigan.gov/ag/initiatives/catholic-church-clergy-abuse.
Victims of sexual abuse and/or assault in need of additional resources should contact 855-VOICES4.
Katy Snodgrass is a reporter for the Huron Daily Tribune. She has been with the Tribune since August 2024.
katy.snodgrass@hearstnp.com