Read the full Grand Jury report:
https://ffrf.org/uploads/legal/386201839-Interim-Redacted-Report-and-Responses.pdf
The Diocese of Erie was first apprised of Father William Presley's sexual abuses as early
as November 1987, during his assignment as Pastor of St. Agnes. These sexual abuses, as reported
to the Diocese, involved two victims and spanned nearly sixteen years. One of the victims had
been abused as recently as 1986; the second victim was abused prior to 1971 when he was a high
school student in another parish.
Between February and May 1988, various meetings or discussions were held between
Presley and Diocesan officials. Fathers John Rosenhamer, A. Joseph Book, Joseph Bobal, Glen
Whitman, John Beal, and Bishop Michael Murphy participated in the review of the complaints.
The Diocese noted that Presley did not directly deny the allegations. However, Diocesan
memoranda obtained by the Grand Jury recorded the Diocese's negative view of the complaining
victims. Documents regularly referred to the victims as "troubled" or having psychological "problems." Indeed, it was noted that one victim may have been the victim of a previous sexual
assault by a family member.
During the course of the counseling, Bill learns that she has read over 400 of
these trashy, romantic novels, and that she fantasises about everything. The girl, obviously, to me, Fr. Book, has psychological problems. That's one element
of the story. (An Excerpt of a Diocesan Memo Regarding a Victim)
There was a consensus amongst diocesan officials that Presley was extremely violent and
predisposed to assaultive behavior. On May 16, 1988, Bobal wrote a letter to Murphy containing
his recollection of a meeting with Presley. He confirmed that Presley had given the teenaged
female victim a job and had obtained other items for her, including clothing and money. He also
noted the possibility that Presley would become violent. The meeting concluded with a request
that Presley undergo a psychological evaluation. Presley ultimately refused the evaluation but
agreed to see another doctor at the recommendation of the Diocese.
Following an evaluation in April 1990, Murphy placed Presley in a temporary assignment.
That assignment was made permanent in June 1990. Shortly thereafter, Trautman allowed Presley
to remain in his position as Pastor and Administrator at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Church in Sykesville, Jefferson County. In April 1996, Trautman appointed Presley to a new six -
year term as Administrator of this Church, where Father Presley remained until his retirement in
2000.
In January 2002, an article detailing the practice of reassigning priests accused of sexual
abuse of children was published in the Boston Globe. In April 2002, three separate victims notified
Trautman of sexual abuse perpetrated upon them by Presley from 1963 to 1974. One of the
victims was as young as 13 years old when it occurred. The abuse of these individuals consisted
of "choking, slapping, punching, rape, sodomy, fellatio, anal intercourse," and other acts according
to Diocesan records reviewed by the Grand Jury. On April 18, 2002, Trautman contacted Presley
by telephone. Trautman recorded that, during that call, Presley admitted the sexual abuse of the
victims. Trautman revoked Presley's priestly faculties later that year.
In April 2003, and in response to media inquiries about Presley, the Diocese of Erie issued
a press release stating, among other things, that Presley's priestly faculties were removed in July
2002 shortly after the allegations prompted the Diocese to conduct an internal investigation. The
Diocese stated that Trautman' s understanding of the alleged incidents was that the crimes had
occurred 28 years ago during the time of the late Bishop Watson. The Diocese explained that the
individual making the allegation was twenty years old at the time and enrolled at a college in
another state where the incidents were reported to have occurred. The Diocese told the public that
it had "no information to provide on other possible allegations against the priest."
This press release was false and misleading. Trautman had personal knowledge of at least
three victims, one as young as 13, who reported their abuse to him in 2002. Only one victim was
an out-of-state college student. Moreover, the Diocese was aware of sexual abuse complaints
against Presley as early as 1987 but permitted him to stay in active ministry for another thirteen
years. Additionally, Diocesan records showed that Presley was so violent that priests who
interacted with him were concerned for their safety.
Later that year, Trautman communicated with the Vatican and outlined additional details
with respect to sexual abuse committed by Presley. Trautman cited information provided by a
doctor who was counseling one of Presley's victims, the same doctor who counseled Presley in
1988. Trautman reported that the information "...confirms my suspicion that there are even more
victims of the sexual abuse and exploitation perpetrated by Presley."
By 2005, the Diocese was actively engaged in an attempt to formally remove Presley from
the priesthood. In the course of that effort, personnel for the Diocese interviewed other witnesses
or associates of Presley and identified numerous additional victims or potential victims.
Monsignor Mark Bartchak led the investigation. Several of these individuals stated that they
informed the Diocese of their concerns in the 1980's, including a report to a parish council
member, who stated that Presley would not allow anyone else inside the rectory when certain
children were present and that some of these children spent the night with him on multiple
occasions.
Bartchak also re -interviewed the male victim who had previously disclosed his abuse to
the Diocese in 1982, 1987, and 2002. He explained that Presley invited him to his rectory after
befriending him. Presley then tried to hypnotize him before assaulting him. Presley took him on
trips to New York and Yosemite. Presley brought other children on some of these trips, including
one occasion when he tried to abuse both the victim and another high school student at the same
time. Presley taught the victim how to have sexual intercourse by bringing in a female high school
student and using index cards to show them where to touch each other. On more than one occasion,
Presley gave him some type of a sedative to relax him prior to abusing him. Presley stated that it
was okay "because he was a priest" and used his position as a spiritual guide to further the abuse.
On August 25, 2005, Bartchak sent a confidential memo to Trautman that detailed the
results of his interviews to date. Bartchak stated the following: "I was not surprised to learn from
other witnesses from the Elk County area, that there are likely to be other victims" and that "...
several more witnesses who could attest to the brutality that they were subjected to by Father
Presley." Bartchak asked, "It is likely that there may be others who were also of the age for the
offenses to be considered delicts, but to what end is it necessary to follow every lead?" He sought
Trautman' s opinion, asking:
Is it worth the further harm and scandal that might occur if this is all brought up again? I am asking you how you want me to proceed. With due regard for the
potential for more harm to individuals and for more scandal, should I continue to follow up on potential leads?
Four days later Bartchak documented a meeting earlier that day with Trautman, in which he stated:
Bishop Trautman decided that in order to preclude further scandal, these additional
witnesses should not be contacted, especially given the fact that is not likely that
they will lead to information concerning delicts involving minors under 16 years of
age.
In 2006, Trautman made a confidential, formal request to the Vatican in support of
Presley's laicization. The Grand Jury reviewed similar requests in Dioceses throughout
Pennsylvania. Often called "The Acts" of the subject priest, the summaries were often the most
detailed documents within Diocesan records and contained decades of long -held secrets only
disclosed in an effort finally to remove an offending priest from the priesthood. The "Acts" of
Presley stated, in part:
Presley is a violent man....He managed to work his will and way by fear,
intimidation, charm and deception, all the classic signs of a hardcore predator. How he managed to escape for so many years defies reason and understanding.
His behavior was carefully planned behavior.....Victimization didn't happen
spontaneously; it was programmed, masterfully designed, almost perfectly executed.
Given the pattern of behavior over his years in ministry, I believe that Presley constitutes a threat to others.
Presley's abuse has had a rippling effect on the spiritual, mental and emotional lives
of his victims .....Presley' s case has been made public by way of the printed media
causing scandal among the Christian Faithful.
He manipulated families to welcome him into their homes and worked to garner the approval of parents. He then used this privileged position to solicit sexual acts
with the children.
Father Presley's behaviors of manipulating families into giving him their trust and grooming their children for engaging in sexual acts continued and improved as he moved to other assignments.
In the course of these proceedings to remove Presley, the Bishop of Harrisburg, Kevin
Rhoades, provided a statement. He acknowledged that Presley had moved to Lancaster,
Pennsylvania after his retirement in 2000. Rhoades wrote that his predecessor, Bishop Nicholas
Dattilo, was personally aware of this matter and that more information regarding the violent
behavior of Presley had come to light since Presley moved to the Diocese of Harrisburg. Further,
the letter stated that "were this information to become known, especially in the light of his offers
of public assistance at Mass in several parishes, great public scandal would arise within this
diocese."
On July 13, 2006, Trautman wrote to the Lancaster County District Attorney. His letter
stated that Presley was now defrocked and that the Diocese had received "credible allegations
regarding sexual misconduct with a minor which allegedly occurred many years ago." Trautman
falsely wrote, "We were unaware of these allegations until they came to light only a few years ago.
As a result, no criminal charges were ever brought forward because the statue of limitations had
expired." The truth was that Murphy, Trautman, and the Diocese of Erie intentionally waited out
the statute of limitations and curbed their own investigation to prevent finding additional victims.
The Grand Jury finds that the failure of the Diocese of Erie and of Murphy and Trautman
to aggressively pursue the removal of Presley in a timely fashion had left Presley cloaked in the
authority and respect of the priesthood. Moreover, the lack of transparency and candor with
respect to the concerns surrounding Presley only aided seamless insertion into another Catholic
community. Presley, a priest Trautman would eventually describe as a "hardcore predator," had
escaped to a new region of Pennsylvania.
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