DIOCESE OF GREENSBURG LIST OF CLERGY WITH CREDIBLE AND SUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS AGAINST THEM
August 14, 2018
Since 2015, it was directed by former Bishop Edward C. Malesic that there be two separate independent reviews of the Diocese of Greensburg clergy personnel files to ensure that no one who is or was the subject of a credible and substantiated allegation of improper conduct with a child or young adult is currently serving in any ministerial capacity in the Diocese. One of these independent reviews was conducted by a retired Westmoreland County Judge. The other review was performed by outside counsel for the Diocese, Kleinbard LLC, who was retained for purposes of reviewing and producing files in response to document requests from the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. Neither of the independent file reviews revealed any credible and substantiated allegations of prior sexual misconduct by a priest currently serving in the Diocese of Greensburg.
The independent file reviews, however, did reveal no less than 21 current living and deceased priests that served within the Diocese who, although no longer in active ministry, did have one or more credible and substantiated allegation of child sexual abuse lodged against them. Credible and substantiated means that the allegation was proven to be supported by either an admission by the individual to the abuse, a preponderance of the evidence, or through a comprehensive canonical, civil or criminal investigation. It must be emphasized that each and every one of these credible and substantiated allegations was reported to law enforcement. Moreover, the most recent of these historic allegations dates back more than 25 years to the early 1990s.
Nonetheless, in the interests of transparency and openness, and to ensure that none of these living individuals is permitted to work with or around children, young people or vulnerable adults in the future, the Diocese is specifically identifying the following current and former clergy. Included with each individual is a brief summary of the allegation(s) determined to be credible and substantiated.
- Biena, Michael (deceased)—Father Biena is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the early 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation against Father Biena was made post-death.
- Clark, James (removed from ministry)—Father Clark is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the early 1970s when employed as a janitor at the former St. James Apollo School and prior to entering the seminary. Father Clark was removed from ministry as a result of the allegation.
- Dellamalva, Dennis (deceased)—Father Dellamalva is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the late 1970s to early 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Dellamalva was removed from ministry as a result of the allegations.
- Flohr, Gregory (deceased)—Father Flohr is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the late 1960s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation against Father Flohr was made post-death.
- Guth, Charles (deceased)—Monsignor Guth is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the 1950s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation against Monsignor Guth was made post-death.
- Lesniak, Francis (deceased)—Father Lesniak is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the 1960s and 1970s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegations against Father Lesniak were made post-death.
- Lukac, Raymond (deceased)—Father Lukac is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the 1950s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Lukac no longer served in the Diocese of Greensburg after the late 1950s.
- Marcinek, Henry (deceased)—Father Marcinek is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the 1970s and 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation against Father Marcinek was made post-death.
- Moslener, Robert (removed from ministry)—Father Moslener is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the 1970s and 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Moslener was removed from ministry as a result of the allegations.
- Oris, Fabian (deceased)—Father Oris is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the 1960s and 1970s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Oris was removed from ministry as a result of the allegations.
- Parrakow, Edmond (removed from ministry)—Father Parrakow is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the 1970s and early 1980s while serving in the Archdiocese of New York and in the late 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Parrakow was removed from ministry as a result of the allegations.
- Payer, Emil (removed from ministry) — Father Payer is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors and vulnerable adults in the 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation was investigated by law enforcement, who declined to pursue criminal charges. Father Payer had been previously removed from ministry in 2011 for alleged financial improprieties, and significant restrictions were placed on him as a result of those allegations. A group of mostly lay leaders and several clergy belonging to an independent Diocesan review board reviewed the results of an independent canonical investigation into the abuse allegations, which were made in 2018, and determined that the allegations were both “credible and substantiated.”
- Pierce, George (deceased)—Father Pierce is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the late 1960s and early 1970s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The Diocese petitioned to laicize Father Pierce as a result of the allegations.
- Premoshis, Gregory (removed from ministry)—Father Premoshis is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the early 1980s while a teacher at Geibel Catholic High School. Father Premoshis was removed from ministry as a result of the allegation.
- Rogers, Thomas (deceased)—Father Rogers is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in New York in the early 1960s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation was investigated by the law enforcement in New York, who declined to pursue criminal charges against Father Rogers.
- Sanesi, Leonard (deceased)—Father Sanesi is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the early 1960s while assigned to the St. Joseph Minor Seminary. The allegations against Father Sanesi were made post-death.
- Sinclair, Roger (removed from ministry)—Father Sinclair is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the late 1970s and early 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Sinclair was removed from ministry as a result of the allegations.
- Sredzinski, Joseph (deceased)—Father Sredzinski is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the early 1990s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg.
- Sweeney, John (removed from ministry)—Father Sweeney is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the early 1990s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Sweeney was removed from ministry as a result of the allegation.
- Tamilowski, Joseph (deceased)—Father Tamilowski is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the 1960s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation against Father Tamilowski was made post-death.
- Trott, Roger (deceased)—Father Trott is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minors in the 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Trott was removed from ministry as a result of the allegations.
- Weber, Charles (deceased)—Father Weber, a priest of the Order of St. Benedict, is alleged to have sexually abused a minor in the early 1980s while serving in the Diocese of Greensburg. The allegation against Father Weber was made post-death.
Some of these names may be familiar to you; others may not. This is an evolving list of those who, based on prior credible and substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse submitted to the Diocese, should not be permitted to work with or around children, young people or vulnerable adults. As such, this list may (and likely will) need to be altered or amended over the passage of time.
Most importantly, the Diocese openly invites survivors of abuse by these identified individuals or any other individuals not mentioned above to meet with us to pursue healing and reconciliation as part of the Diocese’s commitment to work closely with survivors and their families for wholeness and healing. The Diocese oversees the provision of free counseling for a survivor of abuse by church personnel, including the offer of independent outside counseling services and contact with support groups and other social service assistance, regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred and whether the alleged abuse occurred within the Diocese of Greensburg.
Finally, the Diocese again offers its sincere apology to the survivors of sexual abuse and to all of those impacted by the grievous failures of the Catholic Church in the past. Admittedly, there have been occasions where the Church and the Diocese have faltered in their protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and for those the Diocese of Greensburg apologizes to the survivors and their families. We must pray for all survivors of clerical sexual abuse—no matter when it occurred, where it occurred, or to whom it occurred.
