Evidence of priest abuse sent to York County DA in 1995, but no charges filed, report says

Show Caption Hide Caption Pa. attorney general presents grand jury report The historic report detailed decades of abuse by hundreds of priests.

When Father Herbert Shank was on leave from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in York, Pennsylvania, and receiving treatment after being accused of molesting and inappropriately photographing young boys, a priest notified him someone would have to contact the district attorney.

“If this must be done,” Shank replied, according to an internal diocesan memo, “it must be done.”

In 1995, the Diocese of Harrisburg notified the York County District Attorney’s Office, turning over “photographic negatives and videotape cassettes,” according to a recently released grand jury report that details widespread sexual abuse in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. The diocese, the report states, also disclosed the names of one of the victims in one of the pictures — and offered to help identify others in the photographs.

The grand jury says one way that the Catholic church covered up abuse for decades was by following this rule: Don’t tell the police. But in Shank’s case, even though the diocese notified law enforcement, he never faced criminal charges, the report states. It’s unclear why.

In a statement, District Attorney Dave Sunday, who took office in January, said "we find the information contained in the Attorney General's grand jury report highly disturbing and the acts detailed therein reprehensible."

"Like many of you, we are just receiving this information and are in the process of reviewing each of the alleged incidents that occurred in York County, as detailed in the report," Sunday said. "We will conduct this investigation with due diligence, as we do with all matters that come before us."

MORE: Here's what we know about priests assigned to York County in the Pa. grand jury report

'Hundreds' of pictures

Shank, who was ordained in 1967, served at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in York from May 1984 to November 1994. He then took a leave of absence.

The grand jury report describes multiple allegations against Shank.

The report alleges that:

In 1994, one boy alleged that Shank molested his brother, himself and five altar boys. The boy who reported the abuse said the priest took him on trips and he would stay at the parish overnight. One night at the rectory, Shank showed him a box full of half-naked photographs of other boys his age.

A maintenance man approached the diocese with information about Shank and a minor. A second maintenance man also had knowledge of photographs, according to an undated diocesan memo.

Father Leo Goodman found hundreds of pictures of young boys in drawers in Shank’s room at the rectory — plus “negatives of pictures of young boys - mid teens - including shots of genitalia." Goodman knew at least one of the altar boys in the images, an undated diocesan memo states.

Another victim, who was concerned about photographs Shank had taken of him, contacted the diocese to report abuse.

Later, another boy — who was the brother of the first victim named — contacted the diocese and reported that Shank molested him between 1971 and 1974. Shank, the report states, took him and other boys to drive-in movies, swimming and on field trips to other states. The priest also gave massages, took photos of the child's genitalia and performed oral sex on the boy, according to the report.

Following these reports, Father Paul Helwig wrote a memo to Bishop Nicholas Dattilo, noting that he had a conference call with Shank in which the legal obligation to contact the district attorney was discussed.

Then, in February 1995, the diocese notified the district attorney’s office. There's no public record of any criminal charges being filed.

READ: Pa. grand jury report on Catholic church clergy abuse: Read the full document

Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office's investigation

In 2017, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office spoke to the York City Police Department, according to the grand jury report. A police officer who was not working on the case, but familiar with it, said Shank taped TV shows on VHS and then recorded himself assaulting young boys, the report states.

The officer stated that the victim made it clear he would not testify — and the diocese shipped the priest out of the area, according to the report.

ALSO OF INTEREST: Priest accused of abuse lands Walt Disney World job - with reference from Pa. diocese

Stan Rebert, who served as district attorney from 1986 to 2010, could not be reached.

Bev Mackereth worked in the district attorney’s office in the 1990s and was instrumental in creating the child abuse prosecution unit. She said she didn’t recall hearing about Shank.

When told about the details of the case on Tuesday evening, including the photographic evidence and cassette tapes, Mackereth said, “With pictures — that one really scares me. I mean, that should never fall through the cracks.”

By 1995, the district attorney’s office had a system in place to provide support for victims and children to make it easier for them to testify, she said.

“There were a lot of kids who didn’t want to talk, but we got them to testify,” said Mackereth, who served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in former Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration.

But on Wednesday, Mackereth said the case might not have fallen through the cracks. She said she was no longer overseeing the child abuse prosecution unit and looking at every case that came in.

"I just can't answer your questions. I wish I could,” she said. “‘I don't know what happened. Or what didn't happen."

Former York City Police Commissioner Russell Clanagan, who served in the position from January 1995 to December 1995, said he had “no recollection whatsoever of that particular case.”

Clanagan said there was a detective who specifically handled those kinds of investigations and would’ve worked closely with the district attorney’s office. Even if a case involved a priest, he said, it wouldn’t have come up to his level.

Meanwhile, York City Police Chief Troy Bankert, who started with the department in 1999, said he wasn’t sure what officer the attorney general’s office spoke with for the report. He said he’d ask around to find out.

Bankert said he wasn’t sure if the department still had relevant records from that time, either.

"We didn't even get computers until like 2002,” he said. “We were typing complaints until like 2002, 2003. So where those records would be would be a considerable search. And I’m not sure why I would want to do it."

Bankert said he wasn’t going to criticize an investigation from 23 years ago.

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Shank, who’s now 76, could not be reached. A reporter with the USA TODAY Network knocked on the door of a home in Adams County that’s listed in public records for him, multiple times.

In a recent interview with FOX43, Shank defended himself against one allegation of sexual abuse, which he described at one point as “massaging.”

"These were people who were important to me, in my own, maybe, messed up way,” Shank said.

But he said he did not take advantage of them.

Contact Brandie Kessler at 717-771-2035, Dylan Segelbaum at 717-771-2102 and Ed Mahon at 717-495-1789.

Law enforcement in the grand jury report:

Other district attorney's offices are mentioned in the grand jury report. For instance:

In 1964, then-Beaver County District Attorney Robert Masters sent a letter to Bishop Vincent Leonard of Pittsburgh regarding a sexual abuse investigation. Masters wrote that “in order to prevent unfavorable publicity,” he had “halted all investigations into similar incidents involving young boys.”

Masters testified before the grand jury in September 2017. When asked why he would defer to the bishop on a criminal matter, Master replied, “Probably respect for the Bishop. I really have no proper answer,” according to the grand jury report.

He also admitted that he wanted support from the diocese for his political career, the report states.

'Tearing him apart'

Ben Andreozzi, an attorney in Harrisburg who represents one of Shank’s victims, said his client was not the subject of the report made to the York County District Attorney’s Office in 1995.

Andreozzi said his client remembers the priest taking pictures of him. But without the ability to bring a lawsuit and subpoena documents, he’s not sure whether the photos are sitting in a box in evidence at a police station – or in Shank’s home.

That’s “tearing him apart.”

"This just highlights the importance of a change to the statute of limitations,” Andreozzi said. “Because I don't have subpoena power. I can't get the records from the police. I can’t get the records from the diocese."

“To use a term from the religious world, he's in purgatory.”