Pa. priest arrested for soliciting sex before diocese placed him in central Pa. church

Candy Woodall | York Daily Record

There were several warning signs in the Rev. Francis Bach's past, but that didn't stop a diocese from assigning him to multiple churches in central Pennsylvania.

In 1967, he was "relieved of his duties" with a young adult ministry in Harrisburg.

That was a few years after he served at St. Patrick Catholic Church in York, where a man in 2016 said Bach abused him as an altar boy in 1960.

Ten years later, Bach had more blemishes on his employment history and more work in York. He's one of several examples in central Pennsylvania, according to a state grand jury report released last week on priest sex abuse, of the diocese shuffling predator priests, or "passing the trash."

The Harrisburg diocese knew Bach broke his celibacy vows as a priest in the mid-1970s and moved him to a city church a month later.

Diocese records show his employment history for April 15, 1975 as "Inappropriate behavior with adult at seminary," according to the report.

On May 14, 1975, the diocese moved him to St. Rose of Lima in York. He was there less than a year.

Diocese records show Bach took a leave of absence on April 14, 1976.

Six months later he was serving at a church in McSherrystown and continued to serve until a resignation and early retirement in 1994.

From the first blemish on his employment record in 1967 to his retirement in 1994, he anally raped and sexually abused multiple children.

When the diocese sent Bach for treatment in 1994, he admitted to sexually abusing 14 victims, between 14 and 16 years old, according to the grand jury report.

Beyond his admission of guilt, additional victims came forward between 1994 and 2016, claiming Bach abused them as children. Some of them were abused in the York churches where he served.

The diocese confronted Bach about those claims, which dated back to the beginning of his priesthood at St. Patrick in York, and he said, "With my history, anything is possible," according to the grand jury report.

More: 'Really sick, abusive stories': 40 Pa. priests confess their crimes

More: 'Go home, be a good priest': How 25 bishops in Pa. Catholic dioceses responded to sex abuse

By the time of his resignation in 1994, Bach had served at nine churches, and was the chaplain for the Boy Scouts in the Columbia-Montour area and a campus minister at Millersville University.

It's unclear exactly how many people he abused throughout his three decades in ministry.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades in 2007 said he didn't think there was a need for any trial, or judicial or administrative process for Bach's abuse, according to the report.

Bach was living his life, Rhoades said, in "basic solitude, doing good when he can," and "spending time in prayer and penance, trying to make reparation for the harm he has caused others through his acts of sexual abuse that occurred early in his priesthood."

Diocese records show Rhoades didn't want anyone to know Bach resigned because of sexual abuse. "If his case is now brought to trial or given any kind of publicity, I fear it will cause scandal to many, as he is still a priest who is beloved by many in our diocese," Rhoades said, according to the report.

The cover-ups, leaves of absence and church reassignments throughout his career, enabled Bach to abuse more children.

There were similar cases in central Pennsylvania.

Story continues below gallery.

Code words

The Harrisburg diocese used code words to hide that a priest was in treatment after sexually abusing children. A "leave of absence," "temporary leave" or "left due to health" was cited in numerous employment histories for priests in treatment. Those breaks usually lasted for six months.

A York County clergyman received that designation as early as 1939, according to the grand jury report.

The Rev. Monsignor Robert Maher "left due to health" from July 1939 to December 1939. That leave came at the end of a two-year stint at St. Rose of Lima in York.

He returned to York County in December 1961 where he served at St. Vincent in Hanover until August 1974.

In his resignation letter in April 1975, Maher said, "I cannot pretend, nor do you, that this whole experience is without pain. But like surgery it must be endured trusting no metastasis will overtake our spiritual therapy." Maher added, "Most important is that Father Christie has a rather complete knowledge of my personal history."

That history includes the abuse of at least 15 boys at St. Vincent, according to the grand jury report.

Obsession ignored

The Harrisburg diocese was concerned about Father John Allen's sexual behavior in January 1970, but did not intervene for two decades.

In those 20 years, Allen sexually abused multiple young boys and, in 1992, he was arrested in Lancaster for soliciting an undercover officer for sex.

The diocese sent him for a mental health evaluation in 1991. Two years later, Bishop Nicholas Dattilo was told Allen went to a Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous meeting, where the priest "gave the impression to members that he was a pedophile and had an obsession with young boys," according to diocese records shared in the grand jury report.

Dattilo didn't remove him from practice. Instead, Allen took a leave of absence from St. Joseph in Lancaster in November 1992 and was reinstated eight months later at St. Theresa in New Cumberland, where he served from 1993 to 1995.

After a man came forward in April 2002 and reported he was abused by Allen for four years, from age 14 to 18, the Harrisburg diocese removed him as a priest.

Two months later, the diocese received a call to verify his employment for a new job. The caller didn't want any additional information or a reference.

And Father M. McFadden said, "I did not volunteer any additional information."

He was officially dismissed from the Catholic church by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 17, 2006.

Two months and gone

Most priests are at a church for four to six years at a time, according to Joe Aponick, spokesman for the Harrisburg diocese. Newly ordained priests, however, might only serve two to three years at a church before moving to another assignment.

One of the tell-tale signs of abuse in diocese records are the number of Pennsylvania priests who served short terms in churches. Those short terms were frequent in abuse cases, as the diocese moved predator priests from parish to parish.

The Rev. Thomas Lawler had posts as short as 2 months and 6 months. He served at Good Shepherd in Camp Hill from October to December 1960 before the diocese placed him at St. Vincent in Hanover from December 1960 to July 1961. He also served at St. Joseph in York from June 1961 to June 1962.

He was accused of molesting multiple boys while he was an active priest from 1955 to 1987.

Where are they now?

Of the priests named in the grand jury report, the Harrisburg diocese says the ones who are still alive have not been passed on to other parishes.

"I believe we do keep track of where they are and make that information available to law enforcement," Aponick said.

They also have better knowledge about priests entering churches in the diocese.

For those entering the seminary in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, when priests were in higher demand, it was easy to be ordained if they went to church, followed the rules and had an intellectual understanding of Catholicism.

"Now, it's about the whole individual and there are psychological screenings," Aponick said. "Is this a whole person who relates well to people?"

Another big difference from then to now: priests and clergy members are never allowed to be alone with children.

"The Catholic church today is one of the safest places for children," Aponick said. "Obviously that was not the case in the past."