High-ranking Catholic officials names withheld from latest Maryland AG report after group appeals

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office released a newer, less-redacted version Tuesday of its report on the history of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, but some key names remain hidden as people are appealing their inclusion.

The names of five high-ranking Catholic officials who helped enable and cover-up abuse, according to the report, are still redacted along with the name of one alleged abuser. Their names, which The Baltimore Sun previously verified and published, were set to be included in this most recent version of the report but are being withheld because the six are appealing the court’s decision.

All court filings and hearings surrounding the decision whether to release the report and to un-redact names have been hidden from the public by order of Baltimore judges because the state attorney general’s initial investigation relied on grand jury materials, which are secret under Maryland law and require a court order to make public.

The attorney general’s report, published in April, details how at least 156 clergy and laypersons abused more than 600 children and young adults throughout the 20th century. The report also shows the extent the church worked to cover-up abuse.

At the center of the legal battle over whether blacked-out names in the report should be made public were 15 people: Ten accused abusers and the five officials.

The five officials held some of the highest positions in the local hierarchy of the Catholic Church and were historically in charge of priest personnel issues. Identified in the redacted report as Officials A-E, they are as follows:

Official A — Msgr. J. Bruce Jarboe

Official B — Msgr. Richard ‘Rick’ Woy

Official C — Bishop W. Francis Malooly

Official D — Msgr. George Moeller

Official E — Msgr. G. Michael Schleupner

Of the five, Malooly rose the highest in the Catholic hierarchy, eventually being appointed as the bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware.

All five have repeatedly ignored or declined The Sun’s interview requests.

The other notable name being withheld is that of Frank Cimino Jr., who resigned from his position with the Maryland State Boychoir after The Sun revealed his inclusion in the report in late May.

Cimino, through an attorney, threatened to sue the newspaper and has denied all wrongdoing. According to the attorney general’s report, he was fired in 1987 from his role as choir director at St. Thomas More after a seminarian accused Cimino of molesting him in the 1970s. Cimino founded the Maryland State Boychoir shortly after his firing.

Originally published in The Baltimore Sun by Lee O. Sanderlin.