"Who Raped Who?"

Part Three of a series: A Proverbial Naked Bike Ride Through Steubenville, Ohio

→{Part One & Part Two}

Tucked away on Franciscan University’s website, on a page entitled Campus Safety, is a link to a document called Historical Review and Actions Taken Regarding Campus Safety.[1] It was published on April 12, 2019, and updated on October 21, 2022. It chronicles how Fr. Sean O. Sheridan, president of Franciscan University from 2013 to 2019, commissioned a third-party firm to investigate the university’s handling of sexual abuse allegations. Fr. Sheridan publicly apologized in his homily at the opening Mass of the 2018-19 academic year, in the wake of the Cardinal McCarrick scandal, to victims of sexual abuse and violence “by any member of the Franciscan University family,”[2] and took action by promising the Historical Review, a report concerning the university’s handling of sexual abuse allegations, to the Board of Trustees.[3]

The report includes a list of clergy, both TOR friars and visiting priests, against whom substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct have been made throughout the university’s existence. It also explains the implementation of new protocol to ensure campus safety. Fr. Sean O. Sheridan appeals for forgiveness on behalf of Franciscan University.

This is no small thing.

And yet, Fr. Sean O. Sheridan’s words at the opening Mass of the 2018-19 academic year give me pause: “Like any institution, we too are comprised of flawed individuals who make mistakes from time to time, and who sin from time to time.” It reminds me of the press release regarding Fr. David Morrier after he pled guilty to sexual battery,[4] which explains rape “is not only a crime but a serious sin.”[5] Both comments betray the gravity of offenses committed by not only Morrier but of university personnel. Morrier did not just rape a student; he groomed her through charismatic ministry and spiritual direction. This was not simply a case of a “flawed individual” who may “sin from time to time,” as Fr. Sean O. Sheridan claimed. Morrier had been given the authority and independence within his order and the university to methodically groom and abuse a student. The culture at Franciscan University allowed him to do it. From the list of abusers compiled in the Historical Review, groomers and abusers were not uncommon among the Friars of the Third Order Regulars or, consequently, Franciscan University.

The university’s post-Morrier press release as well as Fr. Sean O. Sheridan’s comments at the inaugural Mass echo the response of an American cardinal who, during an interview with NBC News in 2004, was asked to comment about the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church: “The church is made of saints and sinners and sometimes the sinners find their way into the clergy. And, well, since we’re all sinners, we can see how that can happen.”[6] This is right theology: we are all sinners. But it’s a weak and tone-deaf pastoral reply. Sure, we’re all sinners, but we all don’t groom and rape children. That much was known in 2004, even if a close examination of systemic abuse came later.

And this cardinal who was interviewed by NBC News to so blithely comment on the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church? It was none other than Cardinal McCarrick, who would later be convicted of pedophilia, accused of assault, and defrocked as a priest. I’m not accusing Fr. Sean O. Sheridan of any crime or behavior like that of McCarrick—and indeed, he should be commended for commissioning the Historical Reivew— but I am saying their responses were equally vapid. By the time Sheridan made that comment at a Mass in 2018, he would have been aware of the charges against his brother-friar, Fr. David Morrier since Morrier was reassigned away from campus in 2015, shortly after he was charged with rape.

Suggesting that Franciscan University did not understand the gravity of its friars’ offenses—insisting that it houses sinners “like any other institution”— the Historical Review was not mentioned in any press release from the university following Fr. David Morrier’s conviction. This was a missed opportunity for the university to demonstrate commitment to institutional responsibility. Several Catholic diocese and institutions provide media releases when they update their lists of credibly accused clergy or employees to aid in transparency. It appears Franciscan University simply wanted the attention from Morrier’s conviction to go away, for people to forget and move on.

And maybe they would have. Then, just a year after Morrier’s guilty plea, allegations against another TOR friar on the university’s campus came to light.

In 2012, a female student at Franciscan University sought spiritual direction from Fr. Gregory Plow, TOR. She later sought counsel from the university’s Wellness Center as Plow’s behavior grew increasingly controlling. Joseph Loizzo, who was the Director of the Wellness Center at that time, affirmed that Plow’s behavior was emotionally abusive and noted that the friar had even left a bruise on the female student’s arm. She described, in one of her sessions with Loizzo, how, if Plow weren’t a priest, she would assume he had been flirting because of his “repeated comments about her appearance, beauty, etc.”[7] The female students’ parents, friends, and professors corroborated her allegations, having noticed Plow’s odd, “possessive” behavior towards her.

When these allegations were sent to Student Life, Fr. Richard Davis, TOR responded by suggesting a “confrontational meeting” between the female student and Plow. Understandably, the female student did not want to meet with Plow; she had, on the advice of her counselor and father, created distance between herself and Plow. Yet the meeting was offered as an ultimatum: unless she agreed to meet with Plow, Student Life would not follow through on her allegations, which had been substantiated by roommates, friends, and counselors.

As one who has taken the safe environment training for years on end, I can attest to the fact that it is never suggested to ask an accuser to meet with the accused. This manipulative and aggressive move on the part of Student Life seems intended only to intimidate the student.

Jenn Morson, a journalist who has tirelessly exposed abuse at Franciscan University, reported that Fr. Dave Pivonka, president of Franciscan University, claimed in an email[8] to alumni in 2023 that the university investigated the allegations against Plow in 2012 and found he had not violated university policy, even though quotes from the University’s Workplace Harassment policy were included by Loizzo in his report.

There are two possible implications of Pivonka’s claim. Either we are to assume that flirtation from friars, controlling behavior, emotional abuse, and physical bruising are not against university policy and, therefore, is behavior students can and should expect from TOR friars, or Pivonka is suggesting that the female student lied, that her claims are unsubstantiated. The latter would mean the Director of the Wellness Center and the students’ professors, friends, and family also lied. Either implication is abhorrent and unacceptable.

The allegations were sent to the Diocese of Steubenville in 2023 and then-Bishop Montforton replied three months later that while Plow did “exhibit a level of personal interaction on a non-professional level”, he “through courses, has learned important lessons regarding pastoral judgment and professional standards.”[9]

The word “courses” went off like an alarm bell in my head. I had read that before. Laypeople have heard that before. Bishop Montforton echoed the worst of episcopal responses. The Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report lists hundreds of priests who were accused, then put on leave to receive counseling, take courses, or undergo evaluation, only to be reassigned to churches and universities where they abused again.

After information about Plow came to light, more alumni came forward with their own stories of Plow’s disturbing behavior on campus.[10] These stories include reports of Plow reading bedtime stories in girls’ dorms and staying long after male visitation hours ended. While Fr. Gregory Plow’s offenses were not proved criminal, his behavior fits the profile of a clergyman willing to use his position to spiritually and emotionally manipulate those under his care. As the investigative podcast Crisis points out, when a cleric sets “their own rules and expectations,” they have made themselves “more privileged than the other people of God.”[11] As the Church has learned through self-examination, this behavior—clericalism—is a pillar that supports systemic abuse.

Researchers like Julie Hanlon Rubio, professor of Christian Social Ethics and co-author of Beyond Bad Apples, describes how clericalism grants clergy “excessive authority, trust, rights, and responsibilities.”[12] At Franciscan University, friars serve as teachers, coaches, chaplains, confessors, and spiritual directors, creating what Margaret Smith, professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, refers to as “opportunity risk.”[13] The TOR friars have ample opportunity to become intimately involved in students’ daily lives, which requires more vigilance and attention to protective policies. However, Plow seems to have been given a great deal of liberty in his interactions with students.

Fr. Gregory Plow’s accuser, as well as her fellow alumni, should have been thanked for bringing his manipulation and abuse to the attention of the university. Instead, she appears to have been bullied by Student Life, and the additional accounts ignored. It’s worth considering, given these reports, that Plow might not be fit for ministry on a university campus. This could have been an opportunity for Plow’s interactions with young women to be minimized. Friars of the Third Order Regular have a mother house in Loretta, PA where he could have resided to serve in other capacities, away from young women. Instead, he took “courses” and was awarded positions of administrative authority as Associate to the Vice President for Franciscan Life and Head Chaplain of Athletics.

This lackluster handling of allegations extended to student allegations against fellow students as well. Alumni have shared occasions in which Student Life mishandled allegations brought forward by female students concerning male students. The response of Student Life is weak and, at times, cruel: one student was told her own behavior was “compromising,” one was asked what she had been wearing, one was told she had asked for it, one was blamed for getting drunk.[14]

Hearing testimonies of female alumni facing blame for their own assault reminded me of the public response to the Steubenville rape case. Alexandria Goddard, an investigative writer, collected and published comments posted publicly on social media between 2012-13 from members of the Steubenville community, which included, “you should have seen the outfit she had on” and “I have no sympathy for whores.” A local radio personality commented, “It’s easier to tell your parents you were raped than, ‘Hey Mom and Dad, I got drunk and decided to let three guys have their way with me’.” The idea that any young girl would allow boys to “have their way” willingly and consensually exposes their own pornographic perception of girls. The lack of shame and self-awareness in airing out these comments on a public forum betrayed a cultural norm, an accepted perception of women. “Who raped who?” as another said, implying that it was worth considering that an unconscious teenage girl forced teenage boys to kidnap and rape her.[15]

It wasn’t that I had never heard this before. Women hearing other women blamed for rape, assault, and harassment is why these are among the most underreported crimes.[16] But again, after the influence of the #metoo movement, extensive research about violence towards women as well as the nature of trauma, and countless public testimonials, I naively believed that our culture had moved beyond the ignorant assumption that a woman’s clothing, behavior, demeanor, or drinking invites and welcomes violence from men.

Victim-blaming is a common reaction to misfortune and crime. It allows individuals or a community a chance to believe the wrong could not be done to them if they take imagined precautions. Yet victim-blaming also tends to be more prevalent when the perpetrator is well-loved or respected by an individual or community,[17] like for instance, football players in a rust-belt town whose pride and joy is football. Or, in the case of the Catholic Church and Franciscan University’s community, revered clergy. Cognitively, it is challenging to accept that someone who is loved, respected, or revered could be capable of something like possessive behavior, leaving a bruise on a girl’s arm, or even rape.

The temptation to blame the victim was also in play within the Steubenville Catholic community when, in 2021, a female teacher at the local Catholic high school was charged with sexual battery against a male student. Thankfully, the parent of the student reported the crime immediately and it was handled appropriately by the diocese and law enforcement. However, within the community there seemed to be a protectiveness over the perpetrator, who was not just a teacher, but a daughter of a local married Catholic priest. In a bizarre twist of clericalism, the community allowed her a different set of rules than other sex offenders. I was startled to see her so visibly active in the community, working at local shops and taking tickets at family events with minors present, despite her Tier 3 sex offender classification. Again, as in the Steubenville football rape case and Morrier rape case, there was a strong show of public support for the perpetrator.

By the time allegations about Fr. Gregory Plow surfaced, we had lived in Steubenville for no more than a year, and the proverbial naked bike ride was full-bodied and overwhelming. I felt like I was living in the fable of the Emperor’s New Clothes, only the nudity in question was not of an individual, but a group of abusers and the community that rode alongside them, shielding their shame by joining the ride. I had met few others who saw the dysfunction (or who were willing to talk about it). We all had, at different moments, questioned our own perception and experience. For me, all it took was a glance outside Steubenville’s walls where the world and the Church were grappling with the sex abuse crisis to realize that the emperor, or community in this case, truly had no clothes.

In 2025, a podcast was released that offered understanding (and a vocabulary) for the culture we were navigating in Steubenville. Sisters of the Little Way, a new order of religious women committed to helping the Church heal from sexual abuse, released an eight-part podcast called Descent into Light, which gathered wisdom and research from experts to explore the causes and responses to the abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, in light of their own experience with an abusive priest.

Sr. Danielle Victoria and Sr. Theresa Aletheia identified a pattern in cases of abuse where victims are turned into scapegoats by the community. This occurs when the community refuses to confront the root causes of abuse and “inevitably cast the darkness onto others.”[18] If someone—like the victim of rape or assault—threatens the social cohesion of a community, or their perceived reputation, the community will make an example out of the victim in an effort to maintain “a clean image” which comes “at a devastating cost.”

In Fr. Pivonka’s email to alumni in which he claimed that Plow had not violated university policy, the implications are that Plow’s abusive behavior is, in fact, expected and acceptable on Franciscan University’s campus. If Pivonka is not suggesting that, then he is suggesting that the victim fabricated her testimony. And if the victim is lying, then so are employees and students of Franciscan, as well as the victim’s family and friends. Pivonka’s response to the allegations against Plow are, unfortunately, a perfect example of an institution scapegoating a victim and “casting the darkness onto others”—and those “others” include his own employees and students—to salvage the “clean image” of Franciscan University and the friars.

When I shared allegations about Fr. Gregory Plow, TOR on social media, I was immediately messaged by a wife of a university employee who had been involved in Student Life, who urged caution and pointed out that I did not have all the information. I agreed this was true, and that I would be more than happy—relieved even—to hear anything that refuted the meticulous notes made by the Director of the Wellness Center which were corroborated by professors, friends, and family of the student involved. In defense of Plow, she replied, “He is a friend of Mary’s.”

Yes, Mary. As in the Mother of God.

Her defense of Fr. Gregory Plow was not based on evidence but echoed some of the defenses past clergy victims have heard from nay-sayers: he’s a holy man, he wouldn’t do that, he’s a priest so he knows better than you, this is about you and your problems. He is a friend of Mary’s was a deflection of Plow’s behavior and an effort to protect the reputation of not only Plow, but of the university.

Protecting social cohesion at a devastating cost had happened and was happening in Steubenville among Franciscan University’s staunch defenders. I wanted to ask a similar question from that sect of the Steubenville Catholic community as Rachel Dissell, an investigative reporter from Cleveland, Ohio, had posed about Steubenville’s rape case: “Is this football town putting its daughters at risk by protecting its sons?”[19] Was maintaining an institutional reputation more important than the safety of students? Why, especially in a post-scandal Church outfitted with policies designed to hold clergy accountable, would a culture of protection around the friars subsist at Franciscan University? Why would they ignore the painful experience and hard-earned wisdom of the Catholic Church?

I wanted to learn more about the culture that bred and nurtured abuse both at Franciscan University and within Steubenville’s Catholic community living in the university’s shadow. I wanted to learn because I feared a culture which had a history of protecting abusers would not be prepared to make the changes necessary to end the cycle of abuse and cover-up.

To understand the culture of systemic abuse in the Catholic community of Steubenville, I would need to go further back in Franciscan University’s history, to the arrival of Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR, as its president. With him would come a tide that transformed the university from a notorious party school with dwindling admissions into a school that Pope John Paul II would laud as an exemplary Catholic university.

Tucked behind the surface of its exemplary façade was a community under Fr. Michael Scanlan’s leadership which would spend “a lot of time trying to convince other people that their experience wasn’t valid”[20] and come to be called “an evil system”[21] by the Bishop of Steubenville. In the story of this community, which had been foundational to Franciscan University’s reform and rebranding, I would find the roots of systemic abuse.

Part Four will explore the connection of Franciscan University with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and the charismatic community in Steubenville under Fr. Michael Scanlan’s leadership.

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[1] https://integrityandtruth.franciscan.edu/we-stand-for-integrity-and-truth/

[2] https://integrityandtruth.franciscan.edu/father-seans-homily-at-the-opening-of-the-semester-liturgy/

[3] https://integrityandtruth.franciscan.edu/we-stand-for-integrity-and-truth/

[4] “Former Ohio school priest sentenced for sexual battery.” WTRF.com, 14 Mar 2022. https://www.wtrf.com/ohio/former-ohio-school-priest-sentenced-for-sexual-battery/

[5] https://franciscan.edu/franciscan-university-statement-on-father-morrier-2/

[6] “Transcript for Feb. 29^th.” Meet the Press. NBC News, 29 Feb. 2004. Web. 14 May 2026. Transcript.

[7] Morson, Jenn. “Allegations Against Father Gregory Plow, TOR, currently assigned to Franciscan University of Steubenville.” Believer, 26 June 2023. https://jennmorson.substack.com/p/allegations-against-father-gregory

[8] Morson, Jenn. “A Response to Fr. David Pivonka’s Alumni Email.” Believer, 28 June 2023. https://jennmorson.substack.com/p/a-response-to-fr-david-pivonkas-alumni

[9] Morson, Jenn. “Bishop Montforton’s Letter Regarding Fr. Gregory Plow, TOR.” Believer, 11 July 2023. https://jenmorson.substack.com/bishop-montfortons-letter-regarding

[10] Morson, Jenn. “Others Share Their Allegations Against Father Gregory Plow, TOR.” Believer, 30 June 2023. https://jennmorson.substack.com/p/others-share-their-allegations-against-958

[11] The Catholic Project. Crisis: Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church, Episode 2: “What Caused the Crisis?” 23 Sept 2020. https://catholicproject.catholic.edu/podcast/

[12] Sisters of the Little Way. Descent into Light, Episode 1: “Sacred Trust Shattered.” 01 Oct 2025. https://www.sistersofthelittleway.com/p/i-sacred-trust-shattered

[13] The Catholic Project. Crisis: Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church, Episode 3; “What Caused the Crisis?” 23 Sept 2020. https://catholicproject.catholic.edu/podcast/

[14] Morson, Jenn. “Alumnae Question Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Commitment to Title IX.” National Catholic Reporter, 16 Apr 2018. https://www.ncronline.org/news/alumnae-question-franciscan-university-steubenvilles-committment-title-ix

[15] Roll Red Roll. Directed by Nancy Schwartzman, Netflix, 2018.

[16] Engel, Beverly, LMFT. “Why Don’t Victims of Sexual Harassment Come Forward Sooner?” Psychology Today, 16 Nov 2017. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-compassion-chronicles/201711/why-dont-victims-of-sexual-harassment-come-forward-sooner?msockid=34ed8433fcff6451043f92e7fdd265f2

[17] Roberts, Kayleigh. “The Psychology of Victim Blaming.” The Atlantic, 5 Oct 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/10/the-psychology-of-victim-blaming/502661/

[18] Sisters of the Little Way. Descent into Light, Episode 5: “The Displaced Weight of Abuse.” 29 Oct 2025, https://www.sistersofthelittleway.com/p/v-the-displaced-weight-of-abuse

[19] Roll Red Roll. Directed by Nancy Schwartzman, Netflix, 2018.

[20] “Doomed from the Start.” Transcript of “Personal Perspectives,” 14 Aug 1991. Uploaded by John Flaherty, 13 Sep 2009, https://www.scribd.com/document/1969528/Doomed-from-the-Start-Tom-Kneier-The-Sword-of-the-Spirit

[21] “Shredding the Sword of the Spirit Covenant.” Uploaded by John Flaherty, 01 Sep 2009, https://www.scribd.com/document/19274926/Ottenweller-Shreds-Sword-of-the-Spirit-Covenant-w-Pict

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