BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News
August 15, 2018
By Dan Herbeck
A Pennsylvania grand jury report on sexual abuse involving more than 300 priests in that state criticized Buffalo’s Catholic Diocese for its handling of allegations against the Rev. Michael R. Freeman, a former Buffalo priest.
Freeman was moved from Buffalo churches to parishes in Pennsylvania even after the Buffalo Diocese learned in 1981 that he had been involved in “criminal behavior” and “admitted inappropriate sexual behavior” with young men and children during five assignments in the Buffalo area, according to the report issued by Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general.
Shapiro said investigators found no records that church leaders in Buffalo or Pennsylvania ever alerted law enforcement to Freeman’s admissions of “sexually violating children.”
“The Buffalo Diocese continued to permit Freeman to serve in active ministry until March 1989 and continued to provide financial aid to Freeman until July 31, 1999,” the Pennsylvania report stated. “The Grand Jury found no documentation in Freeman’s file that indicated that the Dioceses of Buffalo or Erie ever notified law enforcement officials, despite the fact that Freeman admitted to sexually violating children in at least five of his six ministry assignments.”
In March, the Buffalo Diocese included Freeman’s name on a list of 42 priests that it said it had received “credible accusations” of abuse against, but it provided no details about the allegations. According to the Pennsylvania report, he was removed from the priesthood in 1989, while serving in Pennsylvania. The Buffalo Diocese in March said Freeman died in 2010.
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