STEUBENVILLE (OH)
WTRF-TV [Wheeling WV]
May 15, 2023
By D.K. Wright
He was allegedly sexually abused about 53 years ago as he attended Central Catholic High School in Steubenville.
This man, whose name is not being disclosed, has joined two other former students in revealing what he says was sexual abuse by a priest at the school, Father Kenneth Bonadies.
A news conference Monday in Steubenville, held by Road To Recovery Inc., detailed that man’s story.
While that man did not comment during the news conference, another one did speak via Zoom, saying Father Bonadies allegedly sexually abused him in stairwells and classrooms, causing him lifelong trauma.
An attorney representing all three men, Mitchell Garabedian, claims Bishop Jeffrey Monforton has been covering up what happened, and has refused to release the contents of files.
He said the victims have waited a long time and have gotten no response in civil court.
Dino Orsatti, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Steubenville, said the Diocese checked Bonadies’s files while he was with the the Diocese of Steubenville and Central Catholic High School in Steubenville and found no allegations against Bonadies.
Robert Hoatson, Road To Recovery founder, said Bonadies was moved from parish to parish, and was often listed as “not indexed,” which in his words was “code for a problem priest.”
“John,” the victim who spoke via Zoom, said perhaps the Diocese of Steubenville was dragging out a response, waiting until he passed away.
“John” offered advice to parents.
He urged them to explain to their children the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching, and to prevent them from spending time alone with priests.
Father Bonadies was also charged with child sexual abuse in Connecticut.
Garabedian noted that the Archdiocese of Hartford settled that victim’s claim “in the low six figures.”