
CV NEWS FEED // A Pennsylvania diocese has requested local detectives to carry out an investigation of a potential conspiracy to cover up a former parish cemetery employee’s criminal background.
The Diocese of Greensburg announced in a May 28 news release that it had outsourced an investigation of a cover-up related to former parish employee Shon Harrity, 47, following his arrest earlier in the month for eight criminal offenses, including sexual assault of a minor.
The Diocese stated in the release that it had not been made aware of Harrity’s criminal record, which dated back to the early 2000s and included charges such as indecent exposure, open lewdness, obscene disorderly conduct, and possession of controlled substances, until shortly after his arrest.
“Despite failing a criminal background check, [Harrity] was permitted to be employed at an Irwin cemetery and in parish maintenance for twelve years,” the release said.
Bishop Larry J. Kulick has also opened a canonical preliminary investigation to determine “possible culpable negligence for actions or omissions resulting in harm or scandal.”
“These were serious and unacceptable administrative failures which call into question the higher standards we have worked so hard to implement,” the Bishop said in a video statement.
Harrity had been employed at the cemetery of Immaculate Conception Parish in Irwin since 2023, and prior to that, at St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in North Huntingdon since 2012, according to the Diocese.
Upon reviewing Harrity’s file, the Safe Environment Coordinator at St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish discovered that his FBI fingerprint check “clearly disqualified him from employment,” the release said. However, the Coordinator at Immaculate Conception Parish did not flag the file upon receiving it during Harrity’s transfer in 2023.
The Diocese further noted that during an audit it conducted last month, “several required clearance documents were missing from the file.”
Pastor Fr. John Moineau, who had previously attested to the credibility of all clearance documents at his parishes through a signed letter to the Bishop, has resigned at Bishop Kulick’s request.
“I realize Father Moineau has been a fixture in his parish communities for many, many years,” Kulick said in the statement, noting that while the priest “is very much loved by all,” the gravity of the situation “cannot be ignored even though the consequences are difficult for us all.”
Several parish employees connected with the oversight have also reportedly been placed on administrative leave, and all 78 parishes in the Diocese have been instructed to personally review each employee and volunteer file within a week.
Additionally, the Diocesean Human Resource Office will conduct its own, separate audit of clearances in each of its parishes and Catholic schools this summer, and all clergy and employees will complete additional safe environment training.
