EVANSVILLE (IN)
WFIE TV
February 25, 2019
By Jared Goffinet and Kate O’Rourke
While the Diocese included two of the priests on the Archabbey’s list, Saint Meinrad handled the allegations with its own review board.
As we reported Friday, Saint Meinrad’s list includes Robert Woerdeman with one credible allegation and Warren Heitz with two.
Saint Meinrad tells us they encourage victims to report abuse to authorities and that if victims don’t, the Archabbey will. We are told most of their monks serve in seminary school as teachers or administrators.
Now, we’ve learned Heitz’s alleged abuse occurred in the ′70s. One was reported in 1999 and the other in 2018.
Heitz was removed from public ministry in 2002. Since then, we are told he has lived at a supervised residential facility for offenders since 2009.
But up until that point, which was 10 years after abuse was reported, he lived at Saint Meinrad.
“Because he’s residing here does not mean he didn’t have restrictions, so in 2009 it was decided after further evaluation and input from professionals that the best course of action was to move him to a supervised residential facility, but that does not mean that he was not under restrictions when he was living here at St. Meinrad,” Explains Saint Meinrad Spokeswoman Mary Jeanne Schumacher.
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