Diocese of Saginaw MI – BishopAccountability.org

23 Accused in This Diocese

Fr. Robert DeLand, Jr.

Ordained: 1973
Status: Convicted

The Diocese knew of "rumors" in 1992. DeLand was investigated by the Diocese in 2005 after a woman reported that her brother, who died by suicide in 1993, may have been abused by DeLand in the 1970s. Deemed "unfounded." Pastor of St. Agnes in Tittabawassee Township when arrested 2/25/2018 on charges of the sexual assault of a 21-year-old man and 17-year-old boy. The boy's parents told police of concerns regarding DeLand and their son. He was arrested after the boy went undercover. Suspended. DeLand gave the boy alcohol and ecstasy. "Nearly half a dozen" more people reported to police attempted and actual sexual abuse, including rape, by DeLand, some incidents occurring three decades prior; some were minors, and at least one was a girl. A lawsuit was filed in 3/2018 by a 17-year-old boy. DeLand was arrested again in 4/2018; some charges were related to the alleged sexual assault of a 17- or 18-year-old male in 5/2017. The boy's father said he reported the incident to the Diocese, but no response. DeLand pleaded no contest in 9/2018 in a plea deal; he withdrew the plea weeks later. In 3/2019 he was acquitted of the assault of two teenagers. He pleaded no contest to his earlier withdrawn plea, avoiding trial. In 4/2019 he was sentenced to 2-15 years in prison. He was permanently removed from ministry and his case was sent to the Vatican. A lawsuit was filed in 5/2019 alleging the attempted sexual assault in 5/2017 by DeLand of a 17-year-old boy. DeLand was released on parole in 4/2021, which was to end in 4/2022. He was required to register as a sex offender. In 2/2021 the Diocese received an email from a woman who said that when she was a teenage volunteer in Summer 1973 at St. Vincent's Home in Saginaw she witnessed "pedophile behavior" by DeLand toward boys as young as age 5. The woman said she told the nuns in charge, and suffered "years of retaliation" as a result. In 11/2022 DeLand's laicization was announced. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. Ronald J. Dombrowski

Ordained: 1972
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Suspended 3/15/2018 after the Diocese was contacted by someone claiming sexual abuse as a minor by Dombrowski. In 7/2021 the Diocese announced Dombrowski's permanent removal from ministry, and that two additional alleged victims had come forward after the initial allegation, dating to early in his priesthood. Dombrowski was to live a life of prayer and penance. He was added to the Diocese's list of credibly accused. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. The report reveals that in 6/2013 a woman told the Diocese that when her son was ages 10-12 during 1972-1974, Dombrowski would sleep with him and other boys on overnight trips in hotels, and her son said that the priest would "hold him during the night like a teddy bear." The son met with the Diocese in 3/2018 and said that the incidents happened during a trip to FL in 1975 and included unwanted touching and abuse. Also in 3/2018 a woman reported that her two young teenage brothers would spend weekends in the rectory with Dombrowski, and that one of the brothers said that he would wake up at night and feel something hard against his back. The brother confirmed with the Diocese that Dombrowski would sleep in bed with him but denied the hard thing against his back. He said it was in the early 1980s when he was in 7th or 8th grade. In 6/2018 a man reported that when he was a boy in the mid-1970s he and his two brothers were made to cuddle with Dombrowski during trips. In 4/2018 a man reported similar behavior by the Dombrowski toward him and other boys during overnight trips 40 years prior. In 5/2024 the Diocese received a report from an attorney that a man claimed that Dombrowski groomed him as a boy and tried to get him to sleep with him at a hotel during an overnight trip.

Fr. Dale Ovid Labrie

Ordained: 1964
Status: Accused

Died: 5/26/2021
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained in 1964 for the Diocese of Saginaw. Laicized in 1978. Married and raised a family. Became a medical social worker. Died 5/26/2021. Named as accused in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. The Diocese received a call in 2010 from a woman who said that LaBrie raped her when she was age 7, and that it went on for years. She said she stayed in the rectory where they got caught in bed together in 1973, after which he went on a long sabbatical. The Diocesan Review Board determined that there was insufficient information to deem the allegations credible.

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Fr. Eugene Anthony Forbes

Ordained: 1941
Status: Accused

Died: 12/6/2003
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Named publicly as accused in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. Monsignor. Died 12/6/2003. In 11/2002 a man reported to the Diocese that he was sexually abused by Forbes as a boy in 1976, 1977, and 1978. The Diocesan Review Board deemed the allegations not credible. In 4/2018 a 65-year-old woman reported that she was molested many times by Forbes when she was a junior high school student. In 5/2024 the Diocese informed the MI Attorney General that the woman stated in a legal claim that Forbes molested her 1965-1968 at St. Mary's Cathedral School. The Review Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.

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Fr. James Francis Gavit

Ordained: 1954
Status: Accused

Died: 3/2/2017
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Parish priest, pastor. Held prominent chancery positions, including as Vice-Chancellor, Chancellor, Pro-Synodal Judge, Vicar General, and Vicar. Retired in 2004. Named as accused in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. In 2004 Gavit admitted to sexual involvement with a teenage girl decades prior, after his victim contacted the Diocese. Diocesan records show that the plan was for Gavit to retire and undergo an evaluation at St. Luke Institute. Gavit apologized to the woman and gave her a monetary settlement. He died 3/2/2017.

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Fr. Max Vernon Joseph Frego

Ordained: 1962
Status: Accused

Died: 1/29/2010
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained for the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Became a priest of the Diocese of Saginaw in 1971 when the MI dioceses' boundaries where redrawn. Retired in 1994. Died 1/29/2010. Named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Saginaw on its list in 11/2024. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. In 2024 a man reported that when he was about age 15 in 1972 Frego molested him during an overnight in Rosebush MI. Frego had invited him and his brother for the weekend. He said that Frego gave him and his brother alcohol and that during the night he awakened to Frego putting his hands down his pants. The man said he slapped Frego and that he told his parents when they got home. The man said he told a nun in the Grand Rapids diocese in the 1980s or 1990s, and that the nun said there was nothing she could do.

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Fr. Ramon T. Matuszewski

Ordained: 1957
Status: Accused

Died: 4/19/2005
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

"Ray." Parish priest, Navy chaplain. Retired in 2001. Died 4/19/2005. Included in the 6/25/2026 MI Attorney General's Diocese of Saginaw Report. The Diocese received a report in 8/2007 from a woman who said that Ramon was "inappropriate" with her beginning when she was age 14. The Diocese approved up to ten counseling sessions for the woman. The Review Board deemed the allegation not credible.

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Fr. Rembert D. Badarzynski

Ordained: 1949
Status: Accused

Died: 1/3/1997
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Member of the Franciscan's Assumption of the BVM Province. Worked in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, North Dakota, Wisconsin and the Philippines. Died 1/2/1997. Named publicly as accused in the MI Attorney General's Diocese of Saginaw Report released 6/25/2026. The Diocese received a report in 8/2020 that Badarzynski sexually abused an altar boy, age 11 or 12, at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Saginaw the late 1950s.

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Fr. Sigmund John Harmeski

Ordained: 1945
Status: Accused

Died: 12/14/1991
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Retired in 1982. Died 12/14/1991. Named as accused in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. The Diocese was made aware in 1955 that Haremski had made inappropriate advances toward a young adult man, and had shown "unusual interest" in another's confession regarding sex. In 1959 a male college student reported that Haremski had made sexual advances toward him. In 3/1970 the Standish Police Deptartment received a report that Haremski grabbed a 17-year-old boy's private parts, witnessed by four adults. Haremski's personnel file shows notes from that time between Vicar General Msgr. Eugene Forges and Fr. Joe Roach referencing complaints regarding another boy, and a female. In 12/1970 Bishop Reh assigned Haremski as pastor of a Bay City parish.

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Deacon Richard L. Howard

Ordained: 1977
Status: Guilty plea

Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained for the permanent diaconate 9/10/1977. Taught at All Saints High School in Bay City, assigned to St. Stanislaus parish. Faculties suspended 4/18/1988, laicized 2/17/2006. Name released by the Diocese in 4/2018 as a cleric permanently removed due to credible allegations of the sexual abuse of minors. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report. Per the report, Howard was charged in 4/1988 in Bay County with "criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency" with a 15-year-0ld boy, who was a student at All Saints High School, where Howard was a religion teacher. He was also criminally charged with criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency in 1987 with a 14-year-old boy in Oscoda County. In 1/1989 he was sentenced in the Bay County case in to six months in jail and five years' probation; the Oscoda County charges were dropped in a plea bargain. Howard's case was reviewed by the Diocese in 2002. He was laicized in 2006.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw

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Fr. Martin Ignatius Kalahar

Ordained: 1916
Status: Accused

Died: 4/13/1966
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained in 1916 for the Grand Rapids diocese. Died 4/13/1966. Named publicly as accused by the Saginaw diocese on its list 4/10/2019. Noted to have been accused after his death. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Attorney General's Report, which shows that in 2014 a 63-year-old woman reported allegations to the Diocese that Kalahar sexually abused her when she was about age 10 in 1961. Kalahar was pastor of Sacred Heart in Birch Run during the time in question and, on his invitation, the girl worked in the church cleaning vigil lights. She said that Kalahar "would touch her all over in the sacristy and in church" and French kissed her. She said she told her mother, who told her not to tell anyone. Further, she said Kalaher once led her to his bedroom and showed her his bed; his housekeeper suddenly returned from being out, so the priest went downstairs. Kalaher's accuser said she felt that the housekeeper saved her. The woman also said that, per her cousin, a Fr. Lamar told her that Kalahar had molested children at St. Vincent's Orphanage in Saginaw.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw

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Fr. Dennis Kucharczyk

Ordained: 1985
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Suspended in 5/2019 for "misconduct" with a minor "years ago." Police had informed the diocese in 3/2018 of allegations against Kucharczyk. His accuser said she had contacted a nun with the Office of Child and Youth Protection around 2010, but no response. The woman alleged that, beginning when she was a first or second grader at a Midland parish in the 1980s, Kucharczyk would hug and kiss her on the cheek, hold her hand, give her small gifts, and once had her sit on his lap in a darkened classroom then put his arms around her waist and hands on her inner thighs. She said his behavior continued for years, including sending her "gushy and lovey" letters, emails and texts. He also officiated at her wedding where she said he kissed her on the lips. Kucharczyk denied the allegations. The diocese determined there were boundary violations but, after a canonical process, not enough evidence to proceed further. Name was added in 2019 to the diocesan list of accused, then removed in 3/2021.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. Jack J. Leipert

Ordained: 1975
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Named publicly by Saginaw bishop Cistone in 4/2018 as a former priest having been permanently removed from ministry due to credible allegations of the sexual abuse of minors. His faculties were withdrawn in 6/2001 and he was laicized in 2006. Reportedly on 5/2/2018, Leipert was investigated after being accused in 11/2000 of the sex abuse of 21-year-old male. The man received a settlement from the Diocese in 6/2201. Included in 11/2022 on the Diocese of Superior's list of credibly accused, where he was a transitional deacon in 1972. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw report. The report details allegations of the sexual abuse of multiple boys and young men by Leipert throughout his priesthood. By 2004 there were known allegations of the sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse of 14, six of them ages 13-17, one 17 or 18, and the rest ages 18-23. Leipert admitted in 2005 to being "sexually active with young men, most of them over 18." Additional allegations were reported in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

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Diocese of Saginaw

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Fr. James Andrew Marron

Order: CSSp
Ordained: 1927
Status: Accused

Died: 11/17/1987
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained in 1927 for the Congregation of the Holy Spirt. Missionary in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania for forty years, beginning in 1928. Incardinated into the Diocese of Saginaw in 1979. Per his obituary, Marron was working at age 65 as a hospital chaplain in Bay City, MI, was in Ferndale after two years, then returned to Bay City. He retired in 1986 to Bethel Park, PA and died 11/17/1987. He was named publicly as accused by the Saginaw diocese on its list 4/10/2019. Included in the MI Attorney General's 6/25/2026 Diocese of Saginaw Report, which shows that the Diocese received a report in 2018 that Marron would grab the breasts and genitals of a girl, 1980-1984, starting when she was in 8th grade. His accuser said that Marron was an elderly priest at St. Joseph's in Bay City, and that he would grope girls and boys. She said people referred to him as "grab-ass."

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. Francis McHugh

Order: OPraem
Ordained: 1940
Status: Accused

Died: 9/5/1998
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Died 9/5/1998. Named publicly as accused by the Saginaw diocese on its list 4/10/2019; assigned to an Essexville parish 1954-1962. Included on the St. Norbert's Abbey Norbertines in WI list 7/19/2019. One allegation noted. Name included in 10/2022 on the Chicago archdiocese's list. Included in the IL Attorney General's Report 5/23/2023. Included in the 6/25/2026 MI Attorney General's Diocese of Saginaw Report. In 2002 a man told the Diocese that McHugh sexually abused him at ages 12-17 from 1953 to 1959. McHugh was assigned during the time in question to St. John's in Essexille. The Diocese informed the Abbey's Superior.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. James Aloysius Mulvey

Ordained: 1905
Status: Accused

Died: 11/7/1959
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained for the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Died 11/7/1959. Named publicly as accused by the Saginaw diocese on its list 4/10/2019. Allegation made after Mulvey's death.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. Neil Francis O’Connor

Ordained: 1936
Status: Accused

Died: 3/8/1989
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained for the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Parish priest. Editor and publisher of the Catholic Weekly for over 30 years. Died 3/8/1989. Named publicly as accused by the Saginaw diocese on its list 8/12/2019. Allegation noted to have been received after O'Connor's death.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. John Steven Rabideau

Order: OMV
Ordained: 1990
Status: Convicted

Died: 5/30/2014
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Accused in 1998 of abuse 1985-1987 of three boys, between ages 6-14, when a seminarian. Rabideau was studying in Boston and Rome; the abuse occurred during visits home to the Saginaw area. A warrant for his arrest was issued in 1998. He fled the country. Per his order, it suspended him in 1992 and dismissed him in 1997. Rabideau was an active priest in the Philippines in 2004. He was arrested in Colombia in 2006 and extradited to Michigan. He pleaded no contest to three charges; other charges were dropped. Sentenced to 5-10 years in prison on child sex abuse charges in 10/2006. Included on the Saginaw diocese's list 8/9/2019; Rabideau was prosecuted in the diocese, although he had not served there. He died 5/30/2014 at age 52 in a bicycling accident.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

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Fr. Thomas William Ryan

Ordained: 1935
Status: Accused

Died: 1/25/1975
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Ordained for the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Died 1/25/1975. Named publicly as accused by the Saginaw diocese on its list 4/10/2019. Allegation noted to have been received after Ryan's death.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Diocese of Saginaw List 04.10.19

Fr. Elmer Stoffel

Order: OFM Cap
Ordained: 1938
Status: Accused

Died: 12/2/1992
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Saginaw on its list in 2019. Assigned to the diocese 1958-1970. Died 12/2/1992. Included on the Capuchins St. Joseph Province list of those with substantiated allegations against them.

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Fr. Richard T. Szafranski

Ordained: 1975
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Accused in 4/2006 of sexual misconduct with a minor female in the mid-1970s. Placed on leave. He admitted to "a relationship" with the girl. He was 27 and she was 16-17 (or 13 per one article). No criminal charges to be pursued as of 7/2006; Diocese had not yet completed investigation. Added to the Diocese's list 4/10/2019. Noted by 8/9/2019 to have been permanently removed from ministry.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw

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Fr. Joseph Szarek

Ordained: 1939
Status: Accused

Died: 5/15/1999
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

From Poland. Began priesthood as a St. Vincent DePaul Missionary. Arrived in the U.S. in 1941. Named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Saginaw on its list in 2019. Noted to have worked briefly in the diocese. Removed from ministry in the Saginaw diocese in 1958, later worked in the Diocese of Albany, where he was incardinated in 1976. Died 5/15/1999. Added to Albany diocese's list 12/4/2019.

Assignments:

Diocese of Saginaw Assignment Record

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Fr. Leonard F. Wilkuski

Ordained: 1963
Status: Accused

Died: 1/25/2022
Diocese: Diocese of Saginaw MI

Wilkuski resigned from his parish and was placed on leave 5/2002 after acknowledging an allegation of sexual misconduct which occurred "much earlier" in his ministry. Laicized 2/17/2006, per the Diocese. Died 1/25/2022.

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Diocese of Saginaw

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