ST. LOUIS (MO)
Post-Dispatch
By Peter Shinkle
Of the Post-Dispatch
Monday, Feb. 28 2005
A Roman Catholic priest with a history of sexually abusing children pleaded
guilty Monday of receiving child pornography at a Franklin County home for
troubled priests.
The Rev. David J. Malsch, 66, admitted that in October 2003 he got child
pornography images at the RECON facility on Vondera Drive in Robertsville. He
also admitted forwarding child porn from the home to a "pen pal" in
Pennsylvania.
RECON, also known as Wounded Brothers, is where a Nevada priest, Mark Roberts,
was sentenced to serve a term for his 2003 child molestation conviction.
Another resident is Gerald Chumik, a Franciscan monk who has been a fugitive
since 1990 from Canada, where he faces charges of gross indecency with a minor.
A victims' support group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, has
called for Roberts to leave, noting that he is now living just 20 minutes from
one of his victims.
David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, said Wounded Brothers is too lax for
someone with Malsch's record. "This is what happens when priests oversee other
abusive priests in a church-run secretive environment," Clohessy complained.
"This is why men like Malsch belong behind bars and not at a church-run
retreat-style facility."