Steubenville Clergy Sexual Abuse Attorneys

List of Clergy Abusers in Steubenville

Bernas, Elwood

Ordained: 1984
In October 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly identified Father Elwood Bernas with credible evidence of sexual misconduct. In 1986, Church officials suspended Reverend Bernas from active ministry.

Current Status: Removed from active ministry

Brown, Robert A.

Ordained: 1939
In 2005, Father Robert A. Brown faced allegations of sexually molesting an underage male in the Church rectory when the boy was staying overnight in 1970. The allegation accuses Reverend Brown of providing alcohol to the boy and a group of other underage males. He is accused of masturbating the victim as a part of the sexual abuse. Allegedly, he sexually molested three of his victim’s cousins at different times. In 2006, the Diocese of Steubenville announced that Church officials received credible evidence that the priest, a lay volunteer, and Mr. Paul Ditto sexually molested an underage minor from 1976 and 1978. In 1984, Father Brown retired from active ministry. The Reverend remains on the October 2018 Diocese of Steubenville and the 2019 Diocese of Columbus list.

Current Status: Died: 1991

Danko, Vincent

Ordained: 1959
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father Vincent Danko with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. In 1971, Church officials suspended Reverend Danko from active ministry.

Current Status: Died: 1991

Foxhoven, Christopher

Ordained: 2004
In October 2018, Church officials from the Diocese of Steubenville suspended Father Christopher Foxhoven after he admitted to “sexual contact with an abuse of a minor.” At the time of his suspension, he was pastor at Saint Mary of the Hill Parish, and Holy Cross Church. Reverend Foxhoven acknowledged he had impregnated a seventeen-year-old Holy Cross altar server. Law enforcement arrested and charged Father Foxhoven with a counts of sexual battery. The prosecutor’s handling the case said that the priest had groomed the underage female for three years and began inappropriate sexual conduct in August 2018. Foxhoven pled guilty to the charges and received a twelve year prison sentence in November 2018. The court ordered Foxhoven to register as a sex offender. His name appears on the October 2018 Diocese of Steubenville list. In April 2019, Father Foxhoven appealed his conviction and argued that the length of his sentence in the case was excessive.

Current Status: Arrested and charged

Froehlich, Mark J.

Ordained: 1969
In May 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville read a letter to the congregation at Mass. announcing they had received credible evidence that Father Mark J. Froehlich was involved in inappropriate sexual contact. The Church stated that the priest was removed from active ministry after an alleged sexual assault survivor said she attempted to report the molestation to Church officials since her teen years. However, priests and other religious leaders had told the victim and others that the sexual abuse was her fault. Again, the alleged victim reported what had occurred to others in the Diocese in January 2018. The Reverend denied the allegation. In 1987, Church officials promoted Mark Froehlich to Monsignor. In January 2014, Monsignor Mark Froehlich retired from active ministry. During his career, he was assigned to numerous parishes and served young parishioners at the Cambridge, OH Guernsey Catholic Central High School as an official and teacher between 1972 and 1977. He also served as a chancery official, tribunal judge, and Dean. He worked for the Barnesville, OH Saint Vincent de Paul Society has a financial officer and played prominent role in the local Rotary Club.

Current Status: Retired from active ministry

Goschke, Harold J.

Ordained: 1948
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father Harold J. Goschke with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. Official documents reveal that the Roman Catholic Church suspended Reverend Goschke from active ministry in 1957. Other reports indicate that he was placed on a leave of absence from the Diocese of Steubenville after his suspension in 1957. By 1966, he was assigned to multiple Diocese of Stockton parishes where he remained until 1976. By then, he was placed on leave of absence again. Father Goschke’s name appears on a 2018 list from the Stockton Diocese of priests who passed away.

Current Status: Died: 1992

Harris, Kenneth L.

Ordained: 1940
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father Kenneth L. Harris with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. Church documents reveal that in 1963, the Roman Catholic Church suspended Reverend Harris from active ministry. Records from 1943 reveal that Harris worked in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1950, when he was placed on a leave of absence before his reassignment to San Bernardino, California, and back to Mississippi in 1951. The Church then placed him on a leave of absence again in 1952. The following year, he remained on a leave of absence from Natchez, Mississippi, during his relocation to the Diocese of Steubenville. The March 2019 Diocese of Jackson, MS list identifies Father Harris with allegations of sexual assault occurring in 1951 in the Steubenville Diocese that were reported to Church officials in 1998 and 2003.

Current Status: Died: 1964

Hellmer, Michael D.

Ordained: 1970
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father Michael D. Hellmer with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. Church records dated 1989 note that officials suspended Reverend Hellmer from active ministry.

Current Status: Deceased

Holmes, John “Jack”

Ordained: 1969
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father John “Jack” Holmes with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. In 1989, the Steubenville Diocese suspended Reverend Holmes from active ministry.

Current Status: Deceased

Marrer, Robert F.

Ordained: 1950
In 1995, Father Robert F. Marrer faced accusations that he sexually assaulted and raped an underage child between 1967 in 1970. During the time of the alleged sexual assault, the victim was 3 to 6 years old. In 1971, Reverend Father Marrer was placed on a leave of absence. His name appears on the October 2018 Diocese of Steubenville list.

Current Status: Died: 1996

Martinkosky, Joseph A.

Ordained: 1957
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father Joseph A. Martinkosky with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. In 1991, Church officials suspended Martinkosky from active ministry.

Current Status: Suspended from active ministry

McGuire, John/Conrad

Ordained: ?
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father John/Conrad McGuire with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. The priest is also known as Gather Conrad McGuire and Friar John Maguire. In 1988, the Vatican laicized (defrocked – removed from the priesthood) Maguire.

Current Status: Laicized (removed from the priesthood)

Nadzam, John B.

Ordained: 1950
In April 2009, the Diocese of Steubenville told the congregation that it received substantiated accusations that Father John B. Nadzam had sexually molested an underage child during the 1970s. The Church notified civil authorities. During his career, Reverend Nadzam worked as a teacher at Catholic Central High School and was assigned to several parishes. His name appears on the October 2018 Steubenville Diocese’s list with notations that he was suspended from active ministry in the Roman Catholic Church in 2004.

Current Status: Died: 2005

O’Donnell, Henry B.

Ordained: 1949
In December 2005, Father Henry B. O’Donnell faced allegations that he sexually assaulted an underage female in Washington DC in 1950. The victim’s mother allegedly discovered the priest forcibly kissing her daughter and touching her genitals and breasts underneath her clothes. At the time of the alleged assault, Father O’Donnell was working as a chancellor or diocesan secretary. After O’Donnell’s promotion from priest to Monsignor, he continued to sexually molest the girl when she was eighteen years old. The victim accused the Reverend of verbal abuse in a sexual manner when she was twenty-seven years old. At the time of that alleged assault, Monsignor O’Donnell was assigned to the Church as a Vicar General.

Current Status: Accused of sexual misconduct

Peltz, Carl Anthony

Ordained: 1977
Allegations arose concerning Father Carl Anthony Peltz that in 1985, the priest forced his twelve-year-old victim to drink whiskey before he raped him. The alleged incident took place in Iceland when Reverend Peltz was a Navy chaplain. In 1991, a federal lawsuit alleged that Church officials at the Diocese of Steubenville should have known that the Reverend had a drinking problem. However, the Church still certified Peltz as fit for service. In 1993, the Steubenville Diocese agreed to a negotiated settlement for $25,000. In 2003, the Diocese of Kalamazoo Review Board “exonerated” Father Carl Peltz citing it could not find credible evidence. Peltz served the United States as a Navy chaplain starting in 1983 for seven years. In 1990, the priest was incardinated (assigned to a diocese) the diocese of Kalamazoo.

Current Status: Died: 2015

Plimmer, Walter

Ordained: 1934
In 2018, the Diocesan Order publicly named Father Walter Plimmer with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim. Before his ordination into the Roman Catholic Church, Plimmer worked on Broadway as an actor. During his career, he served as a US Army chaplain and was associated with the Society of Saint Sulpice. From 1946 until 1947, the priest was assigned to the Baltimore, MD St. Mary Seminary. By 1948, he is listed as working for the Steubenville Diocese and likely left the Saint Sulpice Order. Church documents reveal that officials suspended Reverend Plimmer.

Current Status: Deceased

Rothbauer, Francis J. (Frank)

Ordained: 1966
In 1988, Church officials removed Father Francis J. (Frank) Rothbauer from active ministry. The following year, a filed civil lawsuit revealed allegations that Reverend Rothbauer sexually molested a child from 1968 until 1972. The alleged abuse began when the girl was fourteen years of age during counseling. Allegedly, in 1972, Steubenville Diocese Bishop Musdio learned of Rothbauer‘s inappropriate sexual contact and reassigned the priest to another parish. The Reverend’s name appears on the October 2018 Diocese of Steubenville list with notations that Church officials that suspended him from active ministry in 1998.

Current Status: Died: 2011

Samuel, Tiesi

Ordained: 1963
In 2018, the Diocese of Steubenville publicly named Father Tiesi Samuel with credible evidence of sexual molestation of an innocent victim.

Current Status: Died: 2001

Wright, Joel A

Ordained: ?
In 2016, federal law enforcement officials arrested Seminarian Joel A Wright and charged the religious leader was seeking to travel to Mexico to adopt multiple infant girls to sexually molest. At the time of his arrest, he was a Columbus, OH Pontifical College Josephinum seminarian. Court documents reveal that, in 2014, the seminarian attempted to adopt an infant from Mexico. Wright’s mother, when speaking to the news media, indicated that at least forty religious orders and dioceses rejected his application to attend before he was admitted to the Pontifical College. Officials of the College dismissed Seminarian Wright after he was arrested. In February 2016, Wright pled not guilty to the charges in US District Court. In April that year, he accepted a plea agreement to reduce the charges and pled guilty. In July 2016, Wright received a sixteen-year federal prison sentence followed by a lifetime of supervision. Wright ‘s name appears on the 2018 Diocese of Steubenville list.

Current Status: Arrested and charged

Zalenski, Gary

Ordained: 1977
In 2007, Church officials at the Diocese of Steubenville suspended Father Gary Zalenski after credible allegations arose that he sexually assaulted an underage female from 1989 until 1991. At the time the alleged assault, the victim was 9 to 11 years old while Reverend Zalenski was working in Lore City, Ohio. The victim told Church officials and her parents what happened. Afterward, the Roman Catholic Church transferred Father Zalenski out of his parish. The priest denied the accusations. The case was referred to the local District Attorney’s Office and the Vatican. In October 2008, the Grand Jury cited a lack of probable cause as the reason it did not indict the priest. That same month, a second allegation arose from another victim. An attorney working on Father Zalenski’s behalf threatened the second victim with a civil lawsuit if she spoke publicly. In January 2009, the second woman filed a civil lawsuit to have his records release. In July 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the lower court to release the priest’s records. Documents reveal that Church officials had sent Father Zalenski to three separate treatment centers. In 2014, the Vatican laicized (defrocked – removed from the priesthood) Zalenski. The priest’s name appears on the 2018 Diocese of Steubenville list.

Current Status: Laicized (removed from the priesthood)