A grand jury document unsealed earlier this week reveals that several Pennsylvania-based priests committed assaults in the Greater Toronto Area, while others were sent there for treatment after sexually assaulting children. The shocking 900-page document determined that Church leaders covered up more than 1,000 cases of child molestation since the 1940s. The reports details hundreds of allegations and incidents in six Catholic dioceses, and discusses 300 priests.It was described as the “largest, most comprehensive report into child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church ever produced in the United States,” by Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania State Attorney General. The report is difficult reading, filled with examples of disturbing abuse, and superiors who turned a blind eye, including incidents that occurred in Canada, that the Star found in the grand jury documents. For example, documents say Reverend Robert G. Wolk and multiple other priests “performed sado-masochistic acts,” with altar boys. He allegedly assaulted one boy more than 200 times in Canada, Virginia, Florida and Ohio.Reverend Theodore P. Zabowki allegedly took a child on a trip to Canada, served him alcohol and assaulted him. After the allegations, he was placed on administrative leave.Reverend Michael Barletta was on a retreat in Toronto, and brought two teens with him to a hotel room, where he assaulted them. He initially denied the accusations, but admitted to it in a letter in 2012. At the time of the incident, Barletta was sent to Southdown Institute, an Aurora-based psychiatric rehabilitation facility that helps clergy deal with mental health issues, addictions and “sexual disorders,” from September 1994 until August 1995 on a “sabbatical.”Southdown Institute is the largest Toronto connection in the report, as at least seven priests accused of sexual abuse were sent to the facility, with at least one returning to work with little repercussion after ...
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