Report Uncovers Extensive Sex Abuse Within Archdiocese of Baltimore

The damning results of a four-year investigation into decades of sexual abuse by the Archdiocese of Baltimore priests have finally been released to the public.

The report, nearly 500 pages long, was completed four years ago by the office of Maryland’s then-attorney general, Brian Frosh. Because it contains information from grand jury subpoenas, it was kept private until a Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled to release a redacted version last month. Thirty-seven names of the accused were removed, although the court said it would consider releasing more at a later date.

State investigators interviewed hundreds of abuse survivors and witnesses. They reviewed documents dating back to the 1940s, mostly from incidents before the Boston Globe’s explosive 2002 revelations about rampant clergy abuse throughout the country.  

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the nation’s oldest Roman Catholic diocese. Out of the more than 150 sexual abusers found by the investigation, just one, 74-year-old wrestling coach Neil Adleberg, has been criminally indicted. That case, which includes rape and other charges, is ongoing.

More than 600 children in 80-plus years were forced into sexual acts, which church leaders worked diligently to cover up. The Maryland Attorney General’s office said the victim count was likely much higher, as most sexual abuse crimes go unreported.

Some schools, congregations and parishes had multiple abusers working there at the same time, including Catonsville’s St. Mark Parish, which had 11 abusers in residence over 40 years. One of them admitted to single-handedly molesting more than 100 children.

The 2019 report said of the archdiocese that “no parish was safe.” Current Archbishop William Lori said in a 2022 statement that none of the credibly accused are still present in the organization. After the report was made public, Lori released a letter of apology in which he states, “To the victim-survivors, their families and all the faithful of the Archdiocese: I see the pain and destruction that was perpetrated by representatives of the Church and perpetuated by the failures that allowed this evil to fester, and I am deeply sorry.”

How The Sex Abuse Was Covered Up For So Long

Many priests who admitted sexual abuse were allowed to keep working or quietly resign to avoid painting the church in a bad light. 

One of them, Father Laurence Brett, confessed in 1964 to sexually abusing a teenager at a Connecticut Catholic university. Church leaders fabricated a hospital stay for hepatitis treatment to justify sending him away, after which he was transferred to Baltimore and abused more than 20 other teenagers. 

“The staggering pervasiveness of the abuse itself underscores the culpability of the Church hierarchy,” said the report. “The sheer number of abusers and victims, the depravity of the abusers’ conduct, and the frequency with which known abusers were given the opportunity to continue preying upon children are astonishing.”

One of the victims, Jean Hargadon Wehner, was featured in the Netflix documentary “The Keepers,” which investigates a nun’s alleged murder by a priest abuser. She said her Catholic high school counselor A. Joseph Maskell raped her repeatedly in the 1970s. It took her two decades to fully remember the trauma of her abuse, but reporting it yielded nothing. 

According to the report, Maskell, who abused at least 39 children, died in 2001 and was never charged. Most of the accused are deceased; the living abusers’ names were among the redacted.

The abuse was so well-concealed by church leaders that some victims reported the abuse to priests who were also abusers. Law enforcement was largely “uninterested in probing what church leaders knew and when,” said the report.

Legal Options for Maryland Clery Abuse Survivors 

Victims and their advocates lauded the report’s release after a lengthy legal battle to keep it concealed.

“It’s a huge relief to have this out,” said David Lorenz, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) Maryland Chapter. “This institution, the attorney general’s office, said, ‘We believe you, we’re writing it down, it’s on paper, it’s recorded as truth.’ It says someone believes us.”

One of the factors discouraging victims from coming forward about their child sexual abuse is the statute of limitations on such crimes in many states; most adults did not come forward or even remember their abuse until they had passed the allowed age for reporting.

These statutes, however, have been eliminated in recent years by multiple states. Others have enacted “lookback windows,” which pause the statutes for a period of time, allowing victims to report their abuse regardless of age or reopen cases previously dismissed by the statute of limitation.

On April 11, Gov. Wes Moore signed into law a bill that will end Maryland’s statute of limitations on sex abuse-related civil suits. The current state law prohibits victims over 38 years old from filing claims, but the Child Victims Act of 2023 eliminates that age limit and allows for sex abuse lookback lawsuits. 

A civil sex abuse lawsuit would allow victims to collect financial compensation for their suffering. Survivovrs of Maryland childhood sex abuse may want to consider consulting with an attorney who is knowledgeable in clergy sex abuse lawsuits to explore possible legal options.

Anyone who would like to report abuse at the hands of the Baltimore Archdiocese can call the Maryland attorney general at 410-576-6312 or email report@oag.state.md.us.