TOLEDO (OH)
Sandusky Register [Sandusky OH]
October 17, 2024
By Angela LaRosa
A late local priest was recently added to a list of Toledo-area clerics that the area’s diocese said were “credibly accused” of child sex abuse.
It’s not known when the name was added to the list, but Sandusky native Father Michael G. Madden was added to the list, which is kept by the Toledo Catholic Diocese.
The list includes 10 other priests who were added after their deaths. There are 26 other names on the list, which include clergy who have substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor or child pornography.
“This is same groceries, different bag,” said Claudia Vercellotti, an advocate with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known also as SNAP, adding that the diocese’s method of “stealthily” releasing the information was “as effective as putting a note in a bottle and throwing it out to the ocean.”
Madden, who passed away in 2007, is the most recent priest added to the list, with others previously added going back to the early 1990s.
Madden served in 13 different parishes or other assignments. From 1963 to 1997 around northwest Ohio, he served in congregations in areas including Sandusky, Put-in-Bay, Kelleys Island, Lima, Toledo, Fostoria and Fremont prior to retiring in 1997.
Because “these clerics were deceased, and posed no threat, no canonical process took place,” the Diocese states on its website.
Toledo officials did not disclose how many reports were made against Madden nor when he was accused, according to SNAP, who added that Toledo Diocese officials didn’t notify any parents, parishioners or the public of Madden’s addition to the list of accused clerics.
“We hope anyone who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Madden’s crimes will find some long overdue consolation in the fact that he’s finally been publicly exposed as an abuser,” a release from SNAP states. “We also hope that anyone who may have been hurt by Fr. Madden will find strength to tell trusted sources like friends, family, therapists or support groups like ours.”
Years of service
Here is a timeline of Madden’s assignments as a priest provided by the survivors network:
• 1963-1965: Saint Rose Parish, Lima
• 1965-1969: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Toledo
• 1969-1971: Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Sandusky
• 1971-1973: Saint Wendelin Parish, Fostoria
• 1974-1977: Saint Michael Parish, Kelley’s Island; Mother of Sorrow Parish, Put-in-Bay
• 1977-1978: Saint Catherine Parish, Toledo
• 1978-1980: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Martin, Ohio; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Bono, Ohio
• 1982-1984: Holy Angels Parish, Sandusky
• 1987-1997: Community of the Risen Christ, Toledo
• 1997: Medical College of Ohio, Toledo; Saint Bernadine Home, Fremont