CLERGY ABUSE

Ten priests named in a grand jury report on clergy abuse in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses had been assigned to parishes or other institutions in Mercer County at one point in their careers. An 11th priest was once assigned to the Diocese of Youngstown, according to the report.

Ten of the priests, some of whom are deceased, worked in Sharon, Hermitage and Greenville.

The priests served in some capacity between 1952 and 1999 at Sacred Heart, St. Joseph, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Adalbert in Sharon; Notre Dame and Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, and St. Michael in Greenville.

The report does not allege that all of the priests engaged in child sex abuse at all Mercer County locations, but were accused of the violations elsewhere.

There are some notable exceptions: The grand jury received several documents alleging that between 1969 and 1970, Father Michael Barletta was seen exposing his genitals to a child at St. Joseph Church in Sharon.

In addition, a 39-year-old man wrote a letter to the Diocese saying that in 1974 he began an “inappropriate” relationship with Father Jerry Kucan when he was serving midnight Mass at St. Anthony’s School in Sharon.