Archdiocese Clears Priest Accused of Sex Abuse

By Annysa Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
January 29, 2013

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/archdiocese-exonerates-priest-accused-of-sex-abuse-bg8inso-188912261.html

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which faces more than a dozen civil fraud lawsuits over its handling of clergy sex abuse cases, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. As the case proceeds, we'll have updates, analysis, documents and more.

A Waukesha priest accused of sexually abusing a minor three decades ago has been cleared by Archbishop Jerome Listecki of any wrongdoing and returned to ministry this month, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee confirmed this week.

Father John Schreiter had been placed on leave in June, two weeks before he was to retire from St. John Neumann Parish. The allegation had surfaced as part of the archdiocese's bankruptcy.

Schreiter denied the allegations.

His case was turned over to the district attorney's office, which declined to prosecute. The archdiocese's abuse review board, headed by former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow, found the allegations to be unsubstantiated, said Jerry Topczewski, Listecki's chief of staff.

Schreiter, who has moved to Arizona, retired as scheduled in June. Listecki notified him of his reinstatement on Jan. 17, according to an announcement in the St. John Neumann Parish bulletin.

It was the second accusation of which Schreiter was cleared by the archdiocese.

In April 2004, he was placed on a leave of absence from St. Bruno's Parish in Dousman after someone claimed to have been abused by him in Sauk County as an 18-year-old about 25 years earlier. He was later cleared by the review board and returned to ministry by then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Schreiter is the second priest exonerated by the archdiocese over the last year. Father Mark Molling was returned to ministry at St. Paul Parish in Genesee Depot in May, two months after he was accused of abusing a boy in the 1990s at Ethan Allen School for Boys.