PENNSYLVANIA CATHOLIC SCHOOL SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors of Student Sexual Abuse in Pennsylvania Catholic Schools

Pennsylvania Catholic school sexual abuse lawsuits involve allegations that clergy and staff allegedly abused students at schools statewide.

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that students were allegedly sexually abused at Pennsylvania Catholic schools and diocesan institutions in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Catholic school sexual abuse lawsuits involve allegations against priests, teachers, coaches, volunteers, and religious staff connected to Catholic schools across Pennsylvania, including schools in Erie, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, and other communities statewide. Lawsuits, grand jury reports, and church investigations have alleged repeated sexual abuse, molestation, grooming, assault, inappropriate conduct with minors, and institutional failures to supervise accused individuals or respond to reports of misconduct. Some allegations also involved claims that church officials concealed abuse complaints or allowed accused clergy and staff to continue working around students despite prior allegations.

If you or a loved one was harmed, contact us today.

History of Sex Abuse in Pennsylvania Catholic Schools

Examples of alleged abuse, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse, include the following:

Cathedral Preparatory School 

• In November 2024, the Catholic Diocese of Erie included Monsignor John Hagerty, former headmaster of Cathedral Preparatory School in Pennsylvania, in the list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse after multiple victims allegedly came forward.

Hagerty served at Cathedral Preparatory School as a teacher from 1955 to 1957, as headmaster from 1984 to 1989, and again as a teacher in 2012 and 2013.

Allentown Central Catholic High School 

• In February 2024, Michael Feifel, a former volunteer football coach at Allentown Central Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.

Feifel was arrested in June 2023 after allegedly soliciting an undercover officer, who was posing as a minor, for sex in exchange for money.

• In August 2018, Kevin Lonergan, a priest and staff member at Allentown Central Catholic High School, was charged for allegedly assaulting a 17-year-old student and sending her explicit messages on Snapchat.

• A 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report revealed allegations of sexual abuse involving numerous clergy members, including Fr. Frank Fromholzer, who allegedly sexually abused at least two students while serving as a religion teacher at Allentown Central Catholic High School in approximately 1964 and 1965.

One of the victims was allegedly repeatedly molested by Fromholzer. 

The diocese allegedly attempted to discredit the victims and their families.

La Salle College High School

• In April 2023, the Attorney General’s report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore was released naming Br. Eugene Morgan as an alleged abuser. Morgan worked at La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, PA, from 1978 to 1985.

Before that, Morgan was at Calvert Hall College High School, where he started as the Dean of Discipline in 1966. In August 2018, a victim alleged that Morgan sexually abused him in the late 1970s at Calvert Hall. The victim alleged Morgan made the boys swim naked and, on one occasion, grabbed and fondled his genitals.

In 2019, another man alleged that Morgan would watch students strip down for swim class and make them swim naked.

St. Theresa Catholic School

• In July 2020, a lawsuit was filed against St. Theresa Catholic School in Pennsylvania and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown regarding the alleged repeated sexual abuse and molestation by homeroom teacher Lawrence Haftle in the mid-1970s. 

Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School

• In February 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School, alleging the school was negligent and failed to prevent sexual abuse or properly address reported assaults.

In June 2019, a student performing volunteer work was allegedly kissed and sexually assaulted in a bathroom by a male student while another boy stood guard. 

November 2019, the same student was allegedly assaulted a second time. 

According to the lawsuit, school authorities failed to take any appropriate action.

• In August 2018, the Diocese of Greensburg released a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse, which included Fr. Gregory Premoshis.

Premoshis allegedly sexually abused a minor in the early 1980s while he was a teacher at Geibel Catholic High School. 

Scranton Preparatory School

• In October 2019, Fr. James Gormley, S.J., priest and staff member Scranton Preparatory School in Pennsylvania, was identified in the list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse that was released by the Diocese of Scranton.

  Gormley served at the school from the 1940s and 1950s.

• In December 2018, the Maryland Province of Jesuits released a report identifying several priests and staff members accused of sexual abuse who served at Scranton Preparatory School, including:
  • Fr. Francis C. Bourbon, S.J.
  • Fr. John H. Duggan
  • Fr. Stephen M. Garrity
  • Fr. Neil P. McLaughlin
• In December 2010, Scranton Preparatory School notified alumni after Jesuit officials in Maryland announced an investigation into alleged sexual abuse by its former science teacher, Rev. Neil McLaughlin.

Bishop McCort High School

• In October 2019, a former student filed a lawsuit alleging that a priest and athletic trainer at the facility sexually assaulted him. The sexual abuse allegedly occurred both on and off campus between 2000 and 2002.

The lawsuit alleged that the school, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, and the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular were liable and covered up the abuse.

• In March 2016, three former leaders of a Franciscan religious order were charged with conspiracy and child endangerment for allegedly allowing Br. Stephen Baker to work at Bishop McCort High School despite a known history of abuse.Baker allegedly sexually abused more than 100 students at the school, where he served as a religion teacher, assistant football coach, and athletic trainer between 1992 and 2000.

• In 2016, a grand jury report was released following the allegations against Br. Stephen Baker.The 2016 grand jury report identified several priests who served at Bishop McCort High School, including:
  • Fr. James Bunn
  • Fr. Leonard Inman
  • Fr. Martin McCamley
  • Deacon Thomas Lemmon

Central Catholic High School 

• In February 2019, reports surfaced that Rev. John O’Brien allegedly sexually abused a minor at Central Catholic High School in Pennsylvania during the mid-1960s. According to the Diocese of Pittsburgh, O’Brien’s religious name was Brother Firmilian John, FSC, at the time of the alleged abuse. O’Brien was later ordained a priest in 1975.

• In December 2018, Br. David Trichtinger was accused of allegedly sexually abusing a student while he worked as a counselor at Seton-LaSalle High School between 1985 and 1987. He also reportedly served as the academic assistant principal at Central Catholic High School from 1991 to 1995.

Quigley Catholic High School

• In October 2018, a lawsuit was filed alleging that Rev. John Hoehl repeatedly sexually abused a student while serving as headmaster at Quigley Catholic High School beginning in 1982.

Between 1973 and 1978, Hoehl allegedly abused numerous children of various ages at the facility and his private residence. Allegations include sodomizing two boys in 1978 after they intervened when he was reportedly attempting to assault a girl in his office, performing oral sex on a 9-year-old boy in 1976, directing boys to sleep in long shirts without underwear so he could touch them during the night, and engaging in inappropriate physical contact—such as wrestling and showering with a 15-year-old boy at his private home at the facility in 1973.

The lawsuit alleged that the diocese concealed Hoehl’s history of abuse and moved him to different locations.

• In August 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury report was released detailing widespread sexual abuse and cover-ups within the Catholic Church, including at Quigley Catholic High School. 

In 2007, the Pittsburgh diocese settled a lawsuit with 32 victims who alleged they were sexually abused by Rev. John Hoehl while attending the school in the 1970s. 

Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School

• In March 2016, a grand jury report revealed that Father James F. Skupien, a former principal and assistant principal at Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, allegedly engaged in sexual abuse and misconduct.

Skupien allegedly sexually abused at least one minor.
One victim came forward in 2008 alleging that Skupien forced him to engage in oral sex between 1968 and 1971.

In 1981, Skupien was found half-dressed in a vehicle with an 18-year-old. He allegedly had been soliciting the individual for sex.

A memo found in the secret archives of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese indicated that church authorities allegedly covered up the abuse.

• The 2016 grand jury report identified several priests who served at Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School, including:
  • Fr. Elwood Figurelle
  • Fr. Daniel F. O’Friel
  • Fr. Gerard Ream
  • Fr. William Rosensteel
  • Fr. James F. Skupien
• In December 2022, an investigation was launched into Mark Powdermarker, former lay staff member and librarian at Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Pennsylvania who had worked at the school for several years. He had been allegedly communicating online about child rape and torture, which is alarming given his access to students at the school.

LK is Investigating Sexual Abuse Claims in Pennylvania Catholic Schools

Levy Konigsberg is investigating cases of sexual abuse and assault that occurred at Pennsylvania Catholic schools.

You may have a potential claim if you were sexually abused in any of the following schools, archdioceses, or districts:

• Allentown Central Catholic High School
• Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School
• Bishop McCort High School
• Cathedral Preparatory School
• Central Catholic High School
• Geibel Catholic High School
• La Salle College High School
• Quigley Catholic High School
• Scranton Preparatory School
• St. Theresa Catholic School

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if:

• You were sexually abused by a teacher or staff at a school.
• The abuse occurred at any school.

Levy Konigsberg represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold schools accountable for their failures to stop abusive teachers and staff.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse  Attorneys

In Pennsylvania, the current statute of limitations for civil sex abuse claims is the age of adulthood plus 37 years, which means that survivors sexually abused as minors typically have until the age of 55 to file legal action, as long as they were born after November 26, 1989.

As in other states across the country, Pennsylvania’s current statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims has been criticized for barring numerous survivors from seeking justice and compensation for their damages and for failing to recognize accepted research about the considerable difficulties survivors face when processing their abuse and taking steps to come forward. Thanks to new efforts by advocates and lawmakers, however, there are now several pending measures before the Pennsylvania Legislature that seek to expand the rights of child sex abuse survivors.

These groundbreaking measures, which are expected to pass, will create new opportunities for survivors to step forward and obtain long-overdue justice. If passed, these measures would create a temporary two-year window for child sexual abuse survivors to file claims over abuse that occurred at any time in the past.

Determining the statute of limitations that applies to your sexual abuse case against a Pennsylvania school or Pennsylvania Catholic school can be challenging, which is why it is best to bring your matter to the attention of an experienced lawyer.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in schools. Our experienced team is dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors, and we are actively investigating allegations of abuse. We are working tirelessly to ensure that survivors have access to justice and that future generations of young people are safe from harm within these institutions.