HARRISBURG, Pa. (EYT) – Late Wednesday, June 20, afternoon, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania accepted legal challenges to the issuing of a grand jury report detailing widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
“In an unsealed order, the Supreme Court has issued a stay of proceedings to review and decide those challenges,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “My legal team and I will continue fighting tirelessly to make sure the victims of this abuse are able to tell their stories and the findings of this investigation are made public to the people of Pennsylvania.”
According to legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, a stay is “The act of temporarily stopping a judicial proceeding through the order of a court.”
It is unknown at this time what Shapiro’s next action might be.
At least three priests and three laymen with local connections were among those listed by the Catholic Diocese of Erie when it released the names of 51 people who were “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct in April.
The list, which made headlines before it was even released, includes 34 priests — 20 of whom are deceased — as well as 17 laymen, two of whom are deceased.
Bishop Lawrence Persico of the Catholic Diocese of Erie said the persons on the list “have been credibly accused of actions ranging from furnishing pornography to minors to direct, sexual assault of minors.”
Locally, Fr. Joseph F. Meisinger, Fr. Donald J. Cooper, and William Garvey – all of who are now deceased – are among those accused.
Meisinger served in Clarion from 1956 to 1972 while Cooper spent time from 1963 to 1984 at various area churches in New Bethlehem, DuBois, Reynoldsville, and Titusville.
William Garvey, an Oil City native who passed away in 2017, was a high school teacher and basketball coach at the Catholic Church. He joined the faculty of Mercyhurst in 1962 and later became dean of the college, vice president of academic affairs and was elected president in 1980. In 2008, he founded the Jefferson Educational Society of Erie.
Additionally, the Rev. David Poulson – an Oil City native who most recently had been a pastor in Cambridge Springs and previously served at St. Michael parish in Fryburg between the late 1990s and 2013 – recently waived his preliminary hearing on charges that he sexually abused two young boys over a period of many years.
Related Articles:
Former Fryburg Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing Two Boys Waives Preliminary Hearing
Catholic Church Leaders Deny Cover-Up in Father Poulson Child Sex Abuse Case
Meisinger, Cooper Among Priests Named As Abuse Scandal Rocks the Catholic Church
