A report from Maryland’s Attorney General on a child sexual abuse cover-up by leaders in the Archdiocese of Baltimore includes allegations of how former Youngstown Bishop James Malone played a part in retaining a priest who eventually left the ministry over allegations of child sex abuse.

A four yearlong investigation by the office of Attorney General Anthony Brown names 156 current or former Catholic clergy, seminarians, deacons, members of Catholic religious orders, teachers at Catholic schools, and other employees of the Archdiocese known to the Attorney General’s Office to have been the subject of credible allegations of child sexual abuse committed in the Archdiocese of Baltimore or to have relocated to the Archdiocese in the wake of child sexual abuse committed in other dioceses.

Included on the list is Father John Hammer, who was included in a report released by the Diocese of Youngstown in 2018 listing 31 priests removed from their positions removed from ministries due to credible allegations of sexual abuse.

The Maryland AG’s report says that from 1979 when Hammer was ordained, until 2002 when he was suspended from the ministry,  Father Hammer had ten assignments in three states including, Ohio, Maryland, and Michigan.

The report states that Hammer served as associate pastor at the St. Louis Parish, in Louisville Ohio from 1979 through 1983; as well as St. Columba Cathedral and St. Aloysius in East Liverpool in 1985.

Hammer was permanently removed as a priest in 2006.

According to the Attorney General’s report, the Columbus Dispatch reported in 2002 that Youngstown Diocese dismissed Hammer from St. Aloysius Parish in East Liverpool in 1985 for child sex abuse and was sent for evaluation.

A lawsuit brought in 2002 by three former altar boys from Youngstown against the Dioceses of Youngstown and Saginaw alleged that church leaders knew about their wrongdoing by him as early as 1978. The lawsuit alleged the leaders did not stop him but moved him to different parishes.

Eventually, Hammer ended up in the Saginaw Diocese in Michigan, where he continued to abuse at least one more child at St. Louis in the 1990s, the Attorney General’s report states.

In October 1985, the Youngstown Diocese sent Hammer for treatment at St. Luke Institute’s Three-Quarter Way House in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was treated for sex addiction and pedophilia.

On May 24, 1986, Hammer was given faculties by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and was temporarily assigned as a chaplain at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore.

On August 6, 1986, an indemnity agreement was signed by the Bishop of Youngstown protecting the Archdiocese of Baltimore from liability for “claims of any kind or nature whatsoever arising out of any culpable act or omission on the part of Reverend John E. Hammer, excepting, however, claims arising out of acts of ordinary negligence.”

When Hammer entered St. Luke Institute’s Aftercare Program in April 1986, he was required to sign a contract that required that he attend three Twelve Step meetings per week, at least two being SA (Sexaholics Anonymous), SLAA (Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous), or SAA (Sex Addicts Anonymous), take Depo-Provera, participate in St. Luke Institute’s aftercare program for as long as recommended, develop meaningful, age-appropriate friendships, and eat nutritious meals.

The contract did not mention staying away from children, according to the Attorney General.

On November 20, 1986, Bishop James Malone of Youngstown wrote to Archbishop Borders seeking full-time employment for Hammer within the Archdiocese. The letter said that Hammer had been working at St. Agnes part-time already and was finishing his time at St. Luke Institute Three-Quarter Way House.

It also said Hammer cannot be placed in the Diocese at Youngstown because three sets of parents oppose his return.

The letter said he would remain a part of the Diocese in Youngstown but requested placement for him in Baltimore.

In a 1987 letter from Hammer’s therapist at St. Luke Institute to Archbishop Borders, the therapist said “[a]s you know, we have had difficulty finding placements for those diagnosed with pedophilia” and expressed gratitude for the archbishop’s “compassion and courage.”

In 1988, Hammer wrote to Archbishop Borders requesting to be able to live in the rectory instead of at St. Agnes. He cited feelings of isolation, loneliness, and depression being at the hospital, although he noted that he greatly appreciated the friendship of Bill Simms. (Simms has also been credibly accused of child sex abuse.)

Hammer said he enjoyed helping occasionally with weekend masses at St. Benedict’s parish. He also described his pursuit of a master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola College.

Archbishop Borders sent a letter to Hammer in which he said he was “very pleased…that you have had occasional weekend Mass help at St. Benedict’s, and even that you have been able to begin pursuing a degree in pastoral counseling.”

Borders granted Hammer’s request to live in a rectory rather than the hospital with the following conditions: no involvement with the parish in which he would live; and that he pays for a room in some way.

In 1989, the Archdiocese decided that because of his “history,” Hammer should not even be engaged in hospital ministry.

A memorandum dated October 26, 1989, to the archbishop, referred to Hammer’s monthly meetings headed by LeFevre, other unnamed officials, Kruse, and Simms. These are presumably the monthly meetings, documented elsewhere, of priests who were treated for child sex abuse and are re-entering the ministry, the Attorney General states.

The Archdiocese informed the Diocese of Youngstown that Hammer’s faculties to perform ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore were being removed.

In a January 1, 1990, letter from Sister Mary Louise Lyons, President of St. Agnes, to Bishop Malone, Sister Lyons thanked Bishop Malone for assigning Hammer to St. Agnes, praised his work, and said she was not surprised that he is leaving after three years and being recalled to his home diocese. She said that was her understanding of the Archdiocese when he was assigned to her.

She was concerned, however, that “he and other priests who have been treated for the same illness are to be limited even more so in the exercise of their priestly ministry.” She said she understood the dilemma faced by the bishops since the disease is incurable, but as a board member of St. Luke’s she was worried that the treatment will not be effective “if the hope of being an active priest is removed.”

In her cover letter to Archbishop Keeler, enclosing a copy of the letter to Bishop Malone, Sister Lyons also discussed William Simms (another abuser described in this Report) and remarked that her letter was handwritten because she “hesitated to give it to someone to type, owing to the nature of the contents.”

In a January 5, 1990, response from Keeler to Sister Lyons, Keeler wrote:

 “With respect to the delicate issue involved in the change of status of Father Jack, I am deeply grateful to you for your understanding and support. In light of our telephone conversation two months ago, I am hopeful that you and the other board members at the Saint Luke’s Institute may be able to receive an in-depth briefing concerning the unique and heavy liability exposure that the Catholic Church is facing in the United States. Even more than a burden which is capable of destroying the patrimony of the Church is the burden of destroyed credibility which would be created if we failed to take every possible step to protect our people.”

In 1990, Hammer was moved to the Diocese of Saginaw and served in multiple parishes until 2002 when his abuse was made public and he was forced to resign.

Hammer was listed as credibly accused by the Baltimore Archdiocese in 2002.

Bishop Malone passed away in 2000.

The Attorney General’s report recommends that Maryland lawmakers eliminate the statute of limitations that have prevented survivors from bringing civil actions against abusers and recovering damages for the harm they have suffered.

“This Report illustrates the depraved, systemic failure of the Archdiocese to protect the most vulnerable – the children it was charged to keep safe,” said Attorney General Brown. “Based on hundreds of thousands of documents and untold stories from hundreds of survivors, it provides, for the first time in the history of this State, a public accounting of more than 60 years of abuse and cover-up.”

Bishop of Youngstown Rev. David Bonnar released the following statement on the report:

"The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown grieves with all victims and survivors of clergy sexual abuse. We are committed to walking with them and being agents of healing, working with them to ensure that this evil scourge never happens again. The recent release of the Maryland Attorney General report opens the wounds of hurt and loss once again."