Names to Know: Recently Outed Predator Priests Still Living in Michigan

LANSING (MI)
Adam Horowitz Law [Fort Lauderdale, FL]

December 23, 2024

From time to time, we at Horowitz Law urge our followers, readers, and clients to widely circulate one of our blogs. This is one of those times. Many more people need and deserve to know about the crimes and whereabouts of these recently outed and still living accused Lansing area predators. Last week, Michigan’s attorney released a report listing 56 proven, admitted, and credibly accused child molesting Lansing Catholic clergy. For the sake of public safety, we’ve summarized just some of the reports and disclosures about a handful of these priests who may still be dangerous. Though they may now be elderly, psychologists tell us there’s no set age at which an abuser is suddenly ‘cured’ of the urge to sexually assault innocent children or vulnerable adults. It’s not clear where these men are living now, as best we can tell. That’s another reason we urge you to circulate, forward, tweet about, and post these names on Facebook and other platforms.

1. Fr. Stephen William Thomsen, who was defrocked in 2020 and is now believed to live in Waipahu, Hawaii. One of his victims said that Fr. Thomsen “was always purchasing beer” for boys, letting boys drive his car, and creating a “special club” for them. One victim reported that the priest “grabbed his hand and put it on his penis and began masturbating” using the boy’s hand. The teenager “felt he was vulnerable to the sexual abuse because of the absence of his father in his life.” Another boy said that Fr. Thomsen “told him to take his shirt and pants off.” An investigator wrote, “He remembers falling asleep with Father Steve’s arm around him. When he woke up the next morning, he found that his belt was undone and the zipper on his pants was pulled down” but that “he has no recollection of any sexual activity.” Another boy said that he spent nights at the rectory with Fr. Thomsen, often in the same bed, and one night he “was woken up by Father Thomsen asking if he wanted to make love.” Fr. Thomsen was apparently from Samoa and worked in parishes in two Michigan towns: Owosso and Burton.
2. Fr. David W. Harvey: Harvey ‘retired’ in 2013 with ‘senior priest status.’ In 2016, a man reported to church officials that, as a nine-year-old, he’d been sexually violated by Fr. Harvey. The Lansing bishop’s abuse ‘review board’ claimed it had ‘insufficient information’ to determine the victim’s credibility. For more on how problematic these ‘review boards’ are, click here
3. Fr. Patrick Isichei: apparently still active today in the church in Nigeria, according to the Attorney General’s report. In a memo, a top Lansing diocesan staffer wrote that Fr. Ischei “admitted that you were guilty of inappropriate sexual contact with an adult female who came to you for spiritual direction. You also admitted to me that you had been guilty of the same with two other adult women prior to coming to the Diocese.” Fr. Isichei also spent time in Steubenville, Ohio, and reportedly admitted that he had also had “a sexual liaison” with a nun in Ireland.
4. Fr. Michael W. Kuchar, who was ‘retired’ to ‘senior priest status’ in 2018. In 2009, the mother of a boy reported to church officials that her son told her that Fr. Kuchar raped him in 1995 or 1996 when the boy was 13 or 14 years old. She also said that another woman, “with whom she had just recently been in contact, believed that her son was also sexually abused by Fr. Kuchar.” In 2016, a priest told the Lansing bishop that a man told him that he had been “accosted” by Fr. M. Kuchar. That same year, an adult parishioner who worked as a volunteer in a local jail where Fr. Kuchar was chaplain reported that Fr. Kuchar “talked dirty” to him and was touching him on the thigh. In 2018, a parishioner wrote to Lansing’s bishop that “[a] dear and trusted friend has told me about a young man who has told his parents that, as a young boy, he was molested by a Fr. Kuchar. That same year, another pastor emailed the bishop saying that “an employee told him that the employee’s brother had just told the employee that the employee’s brother’s nephew had been sexually abused by Fr. Kuchar when the nephew was a child.” Fr. Kuchar apparently abused adults as well. One parishioner reported that “on a number of occasions, Fr. Kuchar would place his hand on top of her leg, and then move his hand toward her hip” over a period of several months and would come up behind her and massage her neck and back unsolicited” to the point where her husband allegedly told Fr. Kuchar “to take his hands off his wife.”
5. Fr. Steven F. Makranyi, who was reportedly “restricted from public ministry” in 2009. In 2020, a woman wrote Lansing church officials that when she was an early elementary student Fr. Makranyi repeatedly kissed her over her face and pulled her “into his crotch area during hugs.” Again, the diocesan Review Board was “unable to conclude that the allegation constituted a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor” but opted to keep “existing restrictions on Fr. Makranyi’s public ministry in place.” But in 2005, a parochial school principal had written to a pastor expressing concerns about Fr. Makranyi’s “inappropriate behavior,” saying that a seventh-grade girl reported that Fr. Makranyi kissed her three times, “put his hand on her cheek, hugged her after Masses, rubbed his hand on her cheek, grabbed her hand and rubbed it in his chest, told her he loved her, told her she was beautiful, grabbed her finger when giving her Communion and telling her it was nice to see her, told her she looked lovely, and singled her out among her friends.” The principal wrote, “Father Steve’s inappropriate behavior is alarming to me. (His) actions and words were not appropriate for any adult with a 7th-grade student.” That same year, a different pastor wrote to one of his superiors expressing concern about “some alleged inappropriate conduct between Fr. Makranyi and young women.” A salon owner reported that Fr. Makranyi began to pay “an inordinate amount of attention” to an attractive 23-year-old salon employee and “would come in and take her hands in his and caress and massage her arms with his hands and call her ‘Dear.’ On one occasion, the priest allegedly “grabbed her hands and proceeded with his usual caressing of her arms and then took her face in both his hands and firmly kissed her on the lips.” In 2006, the director of religious education wrote to Lansing’s bishop that three female parishioners reported that Fr. Makranyi was “overly affectionate with them,” making them “uncomfortable.”
6. Fr. Jeffrey O. Njus: Njus was defrocked in 2019 after being accused of abusing at least one girl and several adult members of his congregation. In 2012, Fr. Njus resigned as a pastor and apologized for “serious mistakes.” In 2015, a 15-year-old parishioner alleged that the priest “touched her” and “made her feel uncomfortable.” In 2017, Fr. Njus tried to work in the Orlando diocese. His Michigan supervisor warned his Florida colleague that “several adult women have suffered significant boundary violations” from Fr. Njus, and “these victims believe there may have been others.” With one parishioner, the cleric admitted “there was hugging, kissing and caressing on at least five or six times” and “most of those times he spent the night in her bed, and she was naked.” Another of his adult victims reported having felt suicidal.
7. Fr. Paul James Guoan, who was defrocked in 2015. Unlike the other accused clerics in this blog entry, he has an entry on BishopAccountability.org (though it’s very brief). In 1989, parents reported to the Lansing church hierarchy that Fr. Guoan attempted to pull their son’s swimming trunks off at a camp in Holly, Michigan. Another victim, a sixth grader, said the priest would rub and touch “his chest, areas close to the genitals” and would massage him “while the two were in their underwear. “Father wanted to take it to another level,” meaning oral sex, he reported. That victim “started drinking when (he) was 18 years old,” was charged with a DUI and a bar fight, and has “thought about suicide on many occasions.” In 2018, another of Fr. Guoan’s victims came forward, reporting that the priest gave him an alcoholic punch and penetrated him anally from behind. Another man alleged that he was sexually abused by Fr. Guoan when he was ten years old. In 2022, yet another survivor of Fr. Guoan reported to church officials that when he was a fifth-grader, the cleric abused him more than a dozen times. He also said that he walked in on Fr. Guoan masturbating one of his friends in the sacristy. Fr. Guoan also spent time in Flint, Flushing, Clio, Alma, Lansing, Helena, and Jackson (where he was a prison chaplain in a hospital and a prison and may have worked at a daycare center as well).

Again, at the risk of sounding dramatic, one of these ousted clerics might be living on your block, volunteering at your local public library, tutoring struggling middle schoolers in math, or babysitting your best friend’s kids. So please, help us create more public awareness of these potentially dangerous individuals.