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Steubenville Catholic diocese releases names of priets accused of sexual abuse

The diocese said Wednesday most of the accusations are decades old.
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STEUBENVILLE (AP) - An Ohio Roman Catholic diocese has released the names of 16 priests and one seminarian who it says have been credibly accused or have admitted to sexually abusing minors.

The Diocese of Steubenville (which includes Carroll County) in southeast Ohio said Wednesday most of the accusations are decades old. A spokesman said last month it would release names dating back to its formation in 1944.

The following clergymen were named:

  • Cletus Altermatt, suspended from ministry in 1952 (deceased)
  • Elwood Bernas, suspended from ministry in 1986
  • Robert A. Brown (deceased)
  • Vincent Danko, suspended from ministry in 1971 (deceased)
  • H. Christopher Foxhoven, suspended from ministry Oct. 27, 2018
  • Harold Goschke, suspended from ministry in 1957 (deceased)
  • Kenneth Harris, suspended from ministry in 1963 (deceased)
  • Michael Hellmer, suspended from ministry in 1989 (deceased)
  • John “Jack” Holmes, suspended from ministry in 1989 (deceased)
  • Anthony Jablonowski, suspended from ministry in 2003, dismissed from the clerical state by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006
  • Robert F. Marrer, deceased
  • Joseph A. Martinkosky, suspended from ministry in 1991
  • John Nadzam, suspended from ministry in 2004 (deceased)
  • Walter Plimmer, suspended from ministry in 1956 (deceased)
  • Francis Rothbauer, suspended from ministry in 1998 (deceased)
  • Joel Wright, pre-theology seminarian who never became a candidate for ordination; dismissed as a seminarian in January 2016, convicted in July 2016
  • Gary Zalenski, suspended from ministry in 2007, dismissed from the clerical state as a result of an ecclesiastical trial in 2014

The release comes a day after a priest who ministered at two diocesan parishes appeared in court on sexual battery charges for a relationship with an underage girl. Charges were filed after the Rev. Henry Christopher Foxhoven told Bishop Jeffrey Montforton about the relationship Saturday.

The Diocese of Youngstown released a list of 34 accused priests Tuesday.

Montforton vowed in a statement to do everything possible to protect children.

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