BALTIMORE (MD)
The Baltimore Banner [Baltimore MD]
March 24, 2025
By Justin Fenton and Darreonna Davis
A former Catholic priest who played a key role in bringing down the notorious child rapist John Joseph Merzbacher has been charged with sex offenses that allegedly occurred during the same time period.
Baltimore County Police said William “Father Bill” Mannion, 62, of Sparrows Point, was arrested Monday and charged with second degree child abuse and multiple sex offenses.
Police said the alleged abuse occurred from approximately 1991 through 1994 in the 600 block of St. Agnes Lane, the address of St. Agnes Church. They provided no other details.
But detectives wrote in charging documents that a man told his therapist that Mannion abused him starting when he was in second grade and continuing through fourth grade at St. Agnes School. The man said Mannion took him to the monastery, played Christian rock music and abused him using puppets from his religion puppet show.
That time period of the alleged abuse overlaps with the period when, in 1993, a victim of Merzbacher, Liz Murphy, confided in Mannion that Merzbacher had abused her. The Baltimore Sun reported in 2012 that Mannion contacted the archdiocese on her behalf, and Murphy reached out to a lawyer, who called prosecutors. That led to a series of charges against Merzbacher in Baltimore Circuit Court that led to four life sentences.
Merzbacher died in prison in 2023. Murphy died Feb. 26.
Mannion declined to speak to detectives in the case brought this month, referring them to his attorney, police wrote in the charging documents. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Monday evening.
Mannion’s wife declined to comment when reached by phone.
Mannion left the priesthood in the late ’90s and was formally laicized “for reasons unrelated to abuse” by the Vatican in 2004, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Baltimore said in an email.
“The Archdiocese of Baltimore is saddened to learn of allegations of abuse by Mannion and is committed to cooperating fully with law enforcement,” wrote Christian Kendzierski, the organization’s spokesperson. “The Archdiocese of Baltimore is committed to protecting children and helping to heal victims of abuse. We urge anyone who has any knowledge of any child sexual abuse to contact law enforcement and call the Archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection.”
The accuser said he served as an altar server at Mannion’s church. He told police that the abuse was initially occasional, but became more frequent into the fourth grade. He said he “felt that Mannion would single him out, telling [the alleged victim] that he was incorrect when answering questions in religious education then telling him to wait in the hallway and pulling him out of class,” police wrote in court papers.
“Mannion told [the alleged victim] that [he] had to do these things or else God would punish [him] and his family, that [his] little brother would go to hell and his parents would be condemned to hell,” police wrote. “After the abuse, Mannion would also have [the alleged victim] say prayers and [he] felt like Mannion wanted him to say it as a penance.”
The alleged incidents increased in frequency and also became more violent, the alleged victim told police. He noted Mannion often had wine on his breath during these incidents.
In recent years, Mannion spoke to investigators with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office for their sweeping investigation into the history of abuse within the Catholic Church, which was released in April 2023.
Mannion “described Merzbacher’s outrageous and inappropriate behavior,” the report said, noting that Mannion remembered Merzbacher sending the victim into the cloakroom and being alone in there with her.
“In 1993, he saw the victim at a wake, and asked her if she was a victim of Merzbacher and she said yes. Mannion reported the abuse to the Archdiocese,” the report said.
Mannion told investigators with the Attorney General that Sister Eileen Weisman, the principal of the Catholic Community Middle School “knew of the abuse, and he believes she did nothing because she was compromised in some way, possibly sexually. She was in Merzbacher’s classroom frequently and treated him as the de facto vice-principal.” Weisman died in 2024.
Mannion is being held without bond, with a bail review scheduled for Tuesday. An attorney was not yet listed in electronic court records.
This article will be updated.