Bransfield
NEW CUMBERLAND – A circuit judge has consolidated eight cases in two Northern Panhandle counties regarding sexual abuse claims against the Catholic Church.
In a February 23 order, First Circuit Judge Michael Olejasz issued an order consolidating the cases against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston before First Circuit Judge David Sims.
Four of the cases – all filed in Hancock County – involve allegations a former priest sexually abused men in the 1980s when he worked at St. Paul’s Catholic School in Weirton. One involves allegations a man was sexually assaulted by Father James J. Chetock when he attended Weirton Madonna High School in the late 1970s. Another involves allegations a man was sexually assaulted by Reverend Richard J. Schaefer while he was assigned to St. Philomena Catholic Church in Rowlesburg.