Diocese of Pittsburgh ACCUSED PRIESTS

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is a religious district of the Catholic Church located in Western Pennsylvania. The Catholic Church established this long-standing Diocese on August 11, 1843. The Diocese of Pittsburgh serves the following counties:

• Allegheny
• Beaver
• Butler
• Greene
• Lawrence
• Washington

The Diocese of Pittsburgh has failed many of its members by allowing institutional sex abuse within its religious district. Bishop of Pittsburgh, Reverend David A. Zubik, published a list of credibly accused clergy members from the Diocese of Pittsburgh who allegedly sexually abused a child. The list below includes names of people dating back to 1935. The names of credibly accused individuals still living but removed from the Diocese and ministry include:

• John Bauer
• Charles Chatt
• Bernard Costello
• Rosendo Dacal
• Eric M. Diskin
• John F. Doherty
• Richard Dorsch
• David F. Dzermejko
• John Hoehl
• Edward Huff
• Bernard Kaczmarczyk
• Herny Krawczyk
• Edward L. Kryston
• Arthur R. Merrell
• John Miller
• Richard J. Mueller
• Thomas O’Donnell
• Joseph Reschick
• David Scharf
• Rudolph M. Silvers
• Bartley Sorensen
• Paul G. Spisak
• Thomas R. Wilson
• William Yockey
• Theodore Zabowski

The Diocese website also includes lists for:

• Individuals who have allegations against them but are now deceased
• Those who were deceased when they had allegations lodged against them
• A separate list of clergy members who received claims not substantiated as child sexual abuse; those names do appear on the Grand Jury Report that the Pennsylvania Attorney General released to the public; some of those individuals have not been removed from the ministry
• Individuals who have appeals within the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

In total, the Grand Jury Report included allegations against 99 priests from the Diocese of Pittsburgh. In 2020, the Diocese announced that it paid out $19 million to settle 224 claims of clergy sexual abuse. The payouts to the victims averaged $86,000 per claim.

The work to mediate the situation began in January 2019, when the Diocese took steps to create a compensation fund program after the attorney general released its report. Before this significant settlement, the Diocese settled 34 claims for abuse victims and helped create counseling programs to aid in the victims’ healing. These steps are crucial to the ongoing recovery of victims from the abuse and subsequent trauma that the Diocese of Pittsburgh allowed.

However, in July 2021, victims of childhood sexual abuse suffered a major setback. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that would’ve allowed victims to file lawsuits for abuse that happened decades ago. The Court ruled that the twelve-year statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims to file civil lawsuits barred a victim from pursuing a claim against another diocese in Western Pennsylvania, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

While faced with this hurdle, the Judge stated that allowing claims from decades ago is a policy decision that the legislature must make, shifting responsibility to the lawmakers to help child sex abuse victims find justice and closure.

Child sexual abuse is a horrifying reality that has plagued our country’s history and carried over into today’s society, although legal professionals and government bodies are hoping to change that. The Diocese of Pittsburgh should be a place of worship and safety for its members. When the Diocese fails to protect its parishioners by allowing its clergy members to sexually abuse children, it must be held responsible. Though the law is developing on whether Pennsylvania sex abuse victims can file claims for abuse that happened years ago, you should contact lawyers with years of experience in sexual abuse cases to assess your legal rights.

You deserve to hold your abuser and the Diocese of Pittsburgh accountable for your sexual abuse. You don’t have to go through the complex legal process of seeking justice alone. Our legal team at Herman Law will help you every step of the way to seek financial compensation to help pay for medical bills, therapy, and any other costs you’ve endured as a result of the abuse.

Contact us today for a free case evaluation and to determine how we can help you.