Unthinkable horrors: Inside the scathing report on abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria

Editor's note: This story contains graphic details of sexual abuse.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria is once again facing scrutiny for the history of sexual abuse by its clerics.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office recently released a stunning report that found over 2,000 children have been abused within Illinois Catholic churches by over 450 clerics between 1950 and 2019.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria, which covers 26 counties from Rock Island in northwest Illinois to Vermilion on the Indiana border, was no small player in the report.

In a scathing and detailed investigation, the state Attorney General's Office paints a picture of how former Peoria Archbishop John Myers helped create a web of lies, mishandled accounts of abuse and ignored victims.

For many of the children and families in the Peoria diocese, their churches were often like a second home. Their clerics — the priests, bishops, monsignors — were like family. For some young boys within the diocese, those influential men in those trusted places were even considered father figures, mentors, and even friends.

But for dozens of children, the diocese was a place of almost unfathomable nightmares. Despite the Catholic Diocese of Peoria now having a long list of written procedures for handling sexual abuse claims, those procedures were implemented long after much damage had been done.

Over decades, 51 clerics in the Peoria Catholic church system were identified by the Attorney General's Office as having raped, sexually assaulted, molested or harassed children within their diocese. Sometimes they operated with almost complete impunity as leadership within the diocese turned blind eyes, ignored victims and swept incidents of abuse under the rug in order to protect the reputation of the church.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office listed 51 names on its list of sexual abusers in the Peoria Diocese, while the local diocese's internal list has 43 names. In a statement, the Peoria diocese indicated that much of the information was old and that sexual molestation of children has been present in more than just the Catholic Church.

"The report highlights criminal behavior that has historically been present in every sector of human life, and which is all the more shocking when perpetrated by those who have publicly committed themselves to serving God and his people," the statement read in part. "Much of the information in the Report dates to more than half a century ago. The steps that the Church in the United States put into place some twenty years ago have gone a long way to address the scourge of sexual abuse and it is our sincere hope that other areas of our society will implement similar safeguards that protect the most vulnerable among us."

The Peoria diocese could not be reached for further comment.

'If a priest loses his reputation, he’s done.'

By 1984, the Peoria Catholic Diocese was already internally struggling to handle an influx of sexual abuse claims against clerics by children.

That year, Myers was named vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria. He would serve as a right hand to the bishop, handling administrative tasks, including the internal handling of sexual abuse claims against clerics by children.

Myers would later be named bishop and leader of the Peoria Diocese in 1990. It was after Myers took over that sexual abuse claims against clerics began to skyrocket in the church. Of the 43 clerics identified by the church as having credible allegations against them, only nine had allegations pre-1990.

Between 1990 and 1999, 13 priests were accused of sexual abuse by children. The attorney general's report characterized Myers' handling of the claims in the following manner:

"Bishop Myers removed some priests from ministry but attempted to address these cases quietly and without 'scandal.' In other instances, he purportedly lacked knowledge of the abuse allegation. In other cases, the bishop downplayed abuse. In yet others, he protected the accused, moving disgraced priests to new assignments or allowing them to retire after allegations surfaced."

When questioned by investigators about why so many sexual abuse claims against clerics went undisclosed to police, Myers pleaded ignorance to claims and blamed geography for what he called "haphazard" record keeping.

Records on sexual abuse in the Peoria Diocese were kept in two different buildings, Myers told investigators. He said the diocese had a "loose" and "slipshod" record-keeping system because of the two separate buildings.

The buildings were a block apart.

"And very often I would simply delegate or presume that — that it was being handled by a person in (the other) office," Myers said of sexual abuse claims.

Furthermore, when asked by investigators why the diocese did not report claims of sexual abuse against clerics to the public, Myers said it was "not the practice at the time."

"I think that there was a great sensitivity to caring for victims but also to the reputation of priests. If a priest loses his reputation, he’s done," Myers told investigators.

'I didn't realize they would be so upset'

In 1992, Father Francis Engels, a priest who operated in McLean, Tazewell and Henry counties, among others, admitted molesting a young boy in the 1980s. In 1993, Myers removed Engels from the diocese.

But later, Myers decided to reinstate Engels to the ministry. When the mother of one of Engels' five known victims called Myers to protest the reinstatement, he said, "I didn't realize they would be so upset."

Engels pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a teenager in 2005 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He died in 2019.

Father George Hiland, operating in Streator, began to abuse a 10-year-old boy in the 1960s. He would perform oral sex on the child and make the child reciprocate the act. The child, given the pseudonym "Peter" by investigators, said he and Hiland "had sex everywhere": the church choir room, the school cafeteria, a tunnel between the church and school, Peter's teacher's desk and even the cemetery where Peter's father was buried.

The summer before Peter started eighth grade, Hiland would take him to a farm twice a week, strip the child naked, cover him with mosquito spray and have sex with him. Hiland would reward the child with toys after every assault.

The Peoria diocese did not publicly acknowledge Hiland's abuse until 2018, after the attorney general's investigation began. Yet Myers became aware of the allegations in 1993.

Myers sent a letter to Hiland in 1994 in which he noted his sadness "at the circumstances which have prompted you to submit your resignation as the Pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish, Dwight, and to seek retirement status in the diocese.” 

Myers suggested Hiland could one day return to the church if he completed therapy. Myers then said to Hiland, “I want to thank you for your generous and fine priestly service in the Diocese of Peoria. Literally thousands of people share this gratitude, and, I am sure, offer their prayers and best wishes to you.”

'That's not my man'

Father Samuel Pusateri pleaded guilty in 1991 to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy at Saint Bede Academy in Peru, Illinois, a ministry within the Peoria diocese.

Despite Pusateri being a convicted pedophile, Myers refused to publicly acknowledge Pusateri's ties to the Peoria diocese for years.

Pusateri was a member of the Order of Saint Benedict, operating within the boundaries of the Peoria diocese. When asked about Pusateri's assault conviction, Myers told investigators, "That's not my man."

The attorney general's report explained it as such: "Although religious order clerics like Pusateri must receive a diocese’s permission to minister within its territory, they generally are governed by their order rather than the diocese. Put another way, the dioceses disclaim responsibility of any sort for those clerics operating within their geographic bounds who are not technically diocesan priests."

But, as the Attorney General's Office found, Pusateri could very well have been considered Myers' "man." Myers advocated for him heavily after he was sent to prison, even leaving the door open for a possible Pusateri return to the Catholic order.

One month after Pusateri was convicted, Myers wrote a letter to the prison chaplain asking him for "your special attention for Father Samuel.” Myers, the Attorney General's Office says, then began a campaign advocating for Pusateri to celebrate prison Masses with grape juice instead of wine. Myers even wrote a letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later be known as Pope Benedict XVI, asking if he could help with Pusateri's case.

Pusateri never returned to Peoria after his release from prison. But he did work at the Catholic Diocese of Joliet and in Rome, where he continued to work for the church until 2018, when the attorney general's investigation began.

'He can do some good and no harm'

Myers always publicly said he treated victims of sexual abuse with respect. The opposite was true, according to internal documents and communications found by the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

In 1992, a victim came forward and said he had been sexually assaulted by Father Edward Lohan, who operated in Peoria, Galesburg and Danville between 1941 and 1973. When the victim came forward, he was dismissed in a letter.

“Father Lohan is now 78 years of age," the letter said. "He is retired and lives quietly in an apartment attached to a retirement home. Father has had a severe heart attack and has had part of a foot removed. He walks with the help of a … cane. I think it is safe to say that he is now in a position in which he can do some good and no harm.”

Lohan died in 1993.

In the late 1970s, Father John C. Anderson began to sexually molest two young boys in Chillicothe. He would invite the boys to his home, or his mother's home, for a sleepover and fondle their genitals while they slept, according to the attorney general's report. He would then climb into bed with the children and masturbate next to them.

One of the boys, called "Adam," went to the Peoria Diocese for help in 1993 after his life crumbled while dealing with alcoholism to cope with his childhood trauma. The Peoria diocese suggested that Adam forgive Anderson.

Another Anderson victim, given the pseudonym "Paul," reported his instance of sexual abuse by Anderson in 1993. In a phone call with Myers, Paul was called a liar, even though the church knew there were other Anderson victims out there.

Paul told investigators he would never forget his 1993 phone call with Myers. "There was a dangerous man walking among them. And the diocese didn’t do a dang thing about it. They protected him," Paul said.

The Peoria diocese did not report claims against Anderson to authorities until the attorney general's investigation began in 2018. Anderson died in 2009.

'Those involved will get on with their lives'

In 1998, more than a dozen people came forward with sexual abuse allegations against Monsignor Norman Goodman of the Peoria Catholic Diocese.

Goodman was given the high title of "monsignor" by the pope himself. It is a title that shows "exceptionalism" within the church.

But Goodman was a sexual predator, one who amassed 19 total victims during his time in the Peoria Diocese. He would fondle young boys, sometimes sticking money down the front of their pants while doing so, according to the attorney general's report.

But when survivors of Goodman came forward, Myers and the diocese brushed them aside. One of Goodman's accusers was still a child at the time of the allegations. The Logan County prosecutor's office declined to press charges at the time.

Myers and the Peoria Diocese publicly celebrated the news.

“The Peoria Diocese is confident the issue will now be put to rest, and those involved will get on with their lives," they wrote in a news release.

When one of Goodman's victims, "Jacob," sat down with diocese officials and asked for a public apology and Goodman's removal from the diocese, he was told that was not happening.

“If you have such a problem with it, you need to catch (Goodman’s) hand in the cookie jar.” Jacob told investigators he was told. “A cookie jar would be a boy’s pants.”

It wasn't until 2002, after Myers had left the Peoria Diocese, that the church acknowledged Goodman's abuse. Goodman died in 2013.

Myers leaves for Newark, faces more scrutiny over sexual abuse

Myers left the Peoria Diocese in 2002 to take over as the head bishop of the diocese in Newark, New Jersey. He died in 2020 at the age of 79.

Despite his many instances of mishandling sexual abuse claims in the Peoria Diocese, the post-death biography on the archdiocese of Newark website credits Myers with being a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

His biography states, "Archbishop Myers helped draft the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the linchpin document that guides the Church in dealing compassionately with victims of abuse and openly with civil authorities."

Even in New Jersey, Myers was accused of covering sexual abuse claims against priests during his 11-year tenure as archbishop.

Myers also came under scrutiny in New Jersey after the Catholic Church paid to build him a $500,000 addition to his home that would include a pool, library and elevator.

As archbishop of Newark, one of the largest dioceses in the country, Myers oversaw the church making payments to two former priests who were sexually abused by a church cardinal as young men. Yet those settlements came with no formal admission or recognition of the abuse, according to the New York Times.

In 2013, a coalition of sexual abuse survivors of the Catholic Church in New Jersey demanded an investigation be launched into Myers' mishandling of sexual abuse claims in that state.

Again in New Jersey, Myers was accused of portraying a priest found guilty of molesting young boys as a victim, pushing the church away from accountability.

In January, it was discovered that, much like in Illinois, the New Jersey Catholic Diocese had also engaged in widespread cover-ups of sexual abuse claims against clerics.

Myers' Newark Diocese was no small player in those claims.

Following his death, New Jersey attorney Mitchell Garabedian said of Myers, “While the passing of any person is unfortunate, many clergy sexual abuse victims feel as though Archbishop Myers was not held sufficiently accountable for his leadership role in the clergy sexual abuse cover up," according to nj.com.