YOUNGSTOWN Diocese report offers details of 19 abuse cases

The report said allegations were made against 2 percent of priests, none recently.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Since 1950, 19 priests in the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown have been accused of child sexual abuse, according to a new report released by the diocese.
"Of the allegations of past abuse, the most recent occurred 13 years ago," said the report, which gives a clearer picture of sex-abuse allegations involving priests in the diocese.
The report noted that the number of accused priests represented 2 percent of those who have served the diocese since 1950. No names were released. The diocese said today that it is not aware of any recent allegations.
The diocese previously said a woman religious was accused and that the complaint was referred to her order.
No priest in ministry is facing an accusation.
The figures will become part of a larger study to help determine the extent of the national church's sex-abuse problem. The national report will be released Feb. 27.
An Associated Press survey of 80 of the 195 Catholic dioceses in the United States, released Tuesday, said 1,341 priests have been accused. That's more than expected by previous press counts of known cases.
Dioceses did not have to release individual figures.
Youngstown numbers
The Youngstown diocese's report said: "Of the 19 priests who have had allegations, four are deceased; four left ministry; two left to serve in other dioceses (with full disclosure to [their new] diocese) and are no longer in ministry; seven diocesan and one religious priest are retired; and one allegation was unsubstantiated."
The report does not give the number of victims or say whether the priests faced more than one accusation nor did it say whether any of the priests were defrocked.
The report said that since 1950, 483 diocesan priests, about 370 priests from religious orders, and nine priests of other dioceses served in the diocese, the report says.
"Given the length of time that has passed, the nature and veracity of some of these allegations cannot be determined," the diocese said.
During the period covered by the report, the diocese has paid about $200,000 for spiritual or psychological counseling for victims.
From 1950 to 1994, about $300,000 was paid to settle claims against the diocese. The settlements came from the diocese's self-insurance fund.
The diocese enacted its first child-protection policy in 1994. Since then, the report said, the diocesan practice is not to offer settlements.
Pending lawsuits
The report says three lawsuits are pending against the diocese. It does not identify them.
The pending cases filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court are:
UBrothers Thomas and Vince Casey of Austintown allege they were abused as children by Monsignor Robert Reidy, who retired in 2002.
USteven M. Catalano of Columbus, Eric Sanderbeck of Louisville and David Bernard of Paris, Ohio, contend they were abused as children by the Rev. Jack Hammer. Father Hammer transferred from the Youngstown diocese to the Diocese of Saginaw in Michigan.
UA man whose identity the court sealed alleges he was molested as a child by the Rev. Robert Burns, a Youngstown priest who transferred to Boston. Burns was later sent to prison in New Hampshire for abuse and was defrocked.
The only other local priest known to have been imprisoned for abuse is the Rev. Robert E. Hill, who was sentenced in 1991 to two years for paying a teenage boy to engage in sex.
After the scandal erupted, local prosecutors met with diocesan officials to review cases but said the statute of limitations had expired.
Bishop's efforts
The report says Bishop Thomas J. Tobin meets with the directors of child protective services to better help children. According to the report, those agencies have received more than 12,400 allegations of child sex abuse in the past decade, none apparently against a diocesan priest.
"The numbers ... indicate that sexual abuse is a serious problem in society as a whole," the report says.
Bishop Tobin said in a statement, "While the situation in the Diocese of Youngstown is not as severe as it is in some other places, we too have had some accusations of past incidents of sexual abuse, and we know that even a single incident would be too many.
"Once again, therefore, as I have in the past, I wish to express our sincere regrets and apologies to any member of the church who has been harmed by the actions or decisions of a priest or bishop, or any other member of the church."
The diocese has a comprehensive child-protection policy and other safeguards for children. A recent internal national audit of such policies praised the diocese's efforts.
wilkinson@vindy.com