| Assignment Record – Msgr. Robert A. Brown Summary of Case: Brown was ordained in 1939 for the Columbus diocese, which split in 1944. He was thereafter a priest of the Steubenville diocese. By 1964 he had achieved Monsignor status; he held several chancery positions throughout his career. In 2005 a woman testified at the Ohio state house during a hearing regarding the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children that Brown sexually abused her brother in the late 1960s, when her brother was 16 years-old. She stated that Brown also sexually abused their three young cousins. In August 2006 the Steubenville diocese announced that it had received a credible allegation that Brown and a church volunteer sexually abused a boy in the late 1970s. Brown retired in 1984 and died in 1991. Ordained: 1939 Retired: 1984 Died: Oct. 7, 1991 |
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| Start | Stop | Parish/Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1939 Columbus bishop was James Joseph Hartley (1903-1944) |
1940 | St. Vincent de Paul Orphan Asylum | Columbus | OH | 3/3 | |
| 1939 | 1940 | St. Ann's Maternity Hospital | Columbus | OH | This hospital was attended by St. Vincent de Paul Orphan Asylum. | |
| St. Anthony's | Bridgeport | OH | This assignment is per news reports. | |||
1940 The Columbus diocese split and the Steubenville diocese was established in 1944. It's first bishop was John Anthony King Mussio (1945-1977) |
1948 | St. Stanislaus | Maynard
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OH | 1/1 | St. Stanislaus had a grade school with 262-69 students, and a high school until 1945 with 10-87 students. |
| 1948 | 1950 | Our Lady of Mercy | Lowell | OH | 1/1 | Our Lady of Mercy had a catechism class with 90 students. |
1950 Mussio was succeeded by Albert Henry Ottenweller (1977-1992)
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1984 | St. Sylvester's | Woodsfield • Brown was accused during a 2005 hearing of having sexually abused a 16 year-old boy in the late 1960s at St. Sylvester's, when Brown was 58 years old. The abuse is said to have occurred at the church rectory at an overnight party. Other boys were said to have been there, and alcohol "plentiful". Fr. Brown allegedly selected the 16 year-old boy to share his bed that night, where Brown masturbated the boy. Brown is said to have told the boy the next morning that what happened was a sin, so Brown drove the boy to a different town to have another priest hear his confession. The boy's three cousins were also said to have been sexually abused by Brown. • The diocese announced in Aug. 2006 that it had received a credible allegation that Brown and former church volunteer, Mr. Paul Ditto, sexually abused a boy at St. Sylvester's between 1976-1978. |
OH | 2/2, 1/1, 1/2 Pastor until 1964 was Msgr. Joseph G. Mehler, after which Brown was pastor. In residence 1972-1973 was Rev. Donald K. Nuss. In 1973-1974 Rev. Louis Gaetano was Brown's assistant, followed in 1974-1975 by Rev. Joseph Martinkosky. Working under Brown 1982-1983 was Rev. Ronald Griffith. |
St. Sylvester's had a school with 92-165 students, and a catechism class beginning in 1958 with 14-50 students. |
| 1964 | 1979 | Vicarri Foranii, Visitation Deanery | Steubenville | OH | ||
| 1966 | 1974 | Synodal Examiners | Steubenville | OH | ||
| 1973 | 1978 | St. Joseph's | Burkhart | OH | 1/1 non-resident | |
| 1979 | 1982 | Diocesan Consultors | Steubenville | OH | ||
| 1984 | 1991 | Retired | Woodsfield | OH | Brown died Oct. 7, 1991 |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1940-1992) • Jones SOL Testimony, Dec. 8, 2005
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