Fr. Joseph V. Messer
Named publicly as accused in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General’s Report. Accused in 1/2008 of the sexual abuse, including rape, of a 16- or 17-year-old boy in 1975 or 1976. Messer strongly denied the abuse and the Archdiocese deemed the allegation “not credible.” Later in 2008 a former schoolmate of the accuser corroborated the story, telling the alleged victim’s attorney that he noticed one day that the boy was walking funny, and the boy told him what happened, showed him blood in his underwear and cried. He said the boy was afraid to tell anyone because Messer threatened to beat him and said he would go to hell.
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