Rev. Thomas A. Kuhn

Assignment Record– Rev. Thomas A. Kuhn

Summary of Case: Thomas A. Kuhn was a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, ordained in 1967. For over twenty years he worked at Elder High School as a teacher, vice principal and then principal. During that time he was assigned to a series of area parishes as an assistant and, for several years, pastored one. Kuhn left Elder in July 1988. The following year he began a twelve-year stint as pastor of Incarnation in Centerville, OH which is near Dayton and in the northern reaches of the archdiocese. He was also involved with nearby Alter High School as a teacher and sports team chaplain.

In the early 1990s Incarnation parents began to complain to the school principal that Kuhn was showing undue attention to their young sons, sending them to class late after mass and taking them out of class to his home. The principal confronted Kuhn, but the behavior continued. A former Alter High student said in 2002 that in 1994 she informed the archdiocese that a former student told her Kuhn had touched him in ways that made him feel uncomfortable. Reportedly, the archdiocese did nothing. In 1997 Alter's principal reported Kuhn to the archdiocese and Children's Services after a male student told two teachers that Kuhn had stuck his hand down the boy's pants. Kuhn was allowed to remain in ministry until May 2002, when he was under investigation by the Sheriff's Department for possible "misuse" of church computers. He had been on leave for a few months earlier in the year for treatment of alcoholism. Bishop Pilarczyk stated publicly that Kuhn was "guiltless," leading to the objections of former students, parents and fellow priest, Rev. Lawrence Breslin. Kuhn was known to lavish boys with money and expensive gifts, and to provide them with alcohol. During November 2001-January 2002, he hosted four boys and a girl in his home, gave them alcohol and masturbated in front of at least one of them.

In October 2002 Kuhn was charged with one count of public indecency, six counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and four counts of allowing minors to possess or consume alcohol on his premises. He pleaded no contest in June 2004 in October 2002 was sentenced to five years' probation and fined $10,500. In 2005 he violated the terms of his probation and was jailed for thirty days.

Kuhn was laicized in October 2014.

Ordained: 1967
Laicized: 2014

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1967 Archdiocese of Cincinnati Archbishop was Karl Joseph Alter (1950-1969).	1968	St. Ann's	Cincinnati	OH	3/3	St. Ann's had a school with 547 boys and 582 girls.
1967 Alter was succeeded as Cincinnati archbishop by Paul Francis Leibold (1969-1972) followed by Joseph Louis Bernardin (1972-1982). Bernardin was replaced by Daniel Edward Pilarczyk (1982-2009).	1988	Elder High School	Cincinnati	OH	teacher 5 years; vice principal 9 years; principal 7 years	Elder had 1,900-1,040 students, all male.
1968	1970	Holy Family	Cincinnati (Price Hill)	OH	2/2	Holy Family had a school with 169-131 boys and 207-189 girls.
1970	1972	St. William's	Cincinnati	OH	3/4, 2/3	St. William's had a school with 497-458 boys and 458-411 girls.
1972	1973	Our Lady of Victory	Cincinnati (Delhi Hills)	OH	3/3	Our Lady of Victory had a school with 557 boys and 526 girls.
1973	1976	Our Lady of Visitation	Cincinnati	OH	2/3	Our Lady of Visitation had a school with 661-652 students.
1976	1982	St. Vincent de Paul	Cincinnati	OH	1/2	St. Vincent de Paul had a school with 68-53 students.
1982	1983					Kuhn is not indexed in the 1983 Directory or listed as at his previous assignment. He is listed, however, in the Cincinnati pages as Principal of Elder High School.
1983	1986	St. John's	Westchester	OH	2/2
1986	1987					Kuhn is not indexed in the 1987 Directory or listed as at his previous assignment. He is listed, however, in the Cincinnati pages as principal of Elder High School.
1988	1989	St. John's	Westchester	OH	2/2
1989	2001	Incarnation	Centerville • In the early 1990s Incarnation's school principal confronted Kuhn for his undue attention to young altar boys, including sending them late to class after masses, and showing up at the school to take individual boys out of class and to his home. Kuhn's behavior continued.	OH	1/3, 1/2	Incarnation had a school with 530-788 students, and a CCD program with 168-850 students.
1992 1996 1999	1995 2002	Alter High School	Kettering • A former Alter English teacher said in 2002 that in 1994 she informed the archdiocese that a student told her Kuhn had touched him in ways that made him feel very uncomfortable. Reportedly, the archdiocese took no action. • In 1997 an Alter student told two teachers that Kuhn had stuck his hand inside the boy's pants. The principal reported the allegations to Children's Services and the archdiocese. • Kuhn hosted minors at his home, including four boys and a girl November 2001-January 2002. He furnishing them with alcohol and, on at least one occasion, masturbated in front of a child. • In early 2002 the mother of a 17-year-old Alter student was so worried about the priest's relationship with her son that, per her insistence, the archdiocese ordered Kuhn to stay away from him.	OH	physics teacher 1992-1995; golf coach 1996; freshman basketball team chaplain 1999-2002
May 2001	May 2002	St. Henry's	Dayton (Miami Township)	OH	1/3	St. Henry's had a CCD program with 487 students. Kuhn was placed on leave in May 2002 pending an investigation by the county Sheriff's Department into whether he had "misused" church computers. He had been on leave for several months earlier in the year for treatment of alcoholism. He resigned from St. Henry's in September 2002, saying the investigation had gone on too long. Bishop Pilarczyk proclaimed that Kuhn was "guiltless." Former students and teachers of Alter High School objected, expressing concern over Kuhn's history of lavishing attention on young boys, which included giving them money, expensive gifts, and alcohol. Rev. Lawrence Breslin spoke out, citing complaints about Kuhn dating to 1994.
2002	2003	Leave of Absence				In October 2002 Kuhn was charged with one count of public indecency, six counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and four counts of allowing minors to possess or consume alcohol on his premises.
2003	2007					Kuhn is not indexed in the 2004-2007 Directories. He pleaded no contest in June 2004 to the October 2002 charges against him. He was sentenced to five years' probation and fined $10,500. In January 2005 Kuhn was found to have violated the terms of his probation and was sentenced February 11 to thirty days in jail.
2007 Pilarczyk was succeeded by Dennis Marion Schnurr (2009-).	2014	Priests on Administrative Leave	Cincinnati	OH		Kuhn is not indexed in the 2015 Directory. He was laicized by the Vatican in October 2014.

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1968-2014).

• St. Henry Priest Placed on Leave, Computer Seized, By Tom Beyerlein, Dayton Daily News, May 25, 2002
• Priest's Resignation Accepted, By Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer, September 10, 2002
• Concerns Were Voiced about Priest, By Jim DeBrosse, Dayton Daily News, September 15, 2002
• Ex-St. Henry Pastor Facing 11-Count Indictment, By Tom Beyerlein, Daytona Daily News, October 16, 2002
• Priest Guilty of Public Indecency, By Rob Modic, Dayton Daily News, June 24, 2004
• Priest Gets 5 Years' Probation, By Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, July 22, 2004
• Priest Fights Sex Offender Status, By Tom Beyerlein, Dayton Daily News, January 1, 2005
• Statement by Bishop Pilarczyk, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, January 13, 2005
• Probation Revocation Hearing Set for Priest, Catholic Telegraph, January 20, 2005
• Rev. Kuhn Jailed 30 Days for Violating Terms of Probation, By Rob Modic, Dayton Daily News, February 11, 2005
• Jailed Priest Files Personal Details, By Rob Modic, Dayton Daily News, March 9, 2005
• Status Report on Clerics Credibly Accused of Child Abuse, Archdiocese of Cincinnati Report, February 7, 2006
• Accused Priests Remain on Payroll, By Tom Beyerlein, Dayton Daily News, April 22, 2007
• Abuse victim reacts after Tri-State priests defrocked by Vatican, By John London, WLWT, October 28, 2014
• Victim's advocate glad to see 3 Tri-State priests defrocked by Vatican, By Tammy Mutasa, WLWT, October 28, 2014
• Vatican defrocks 3 priests over sexual misconduct, By Dan Horn, Cincinnati.com, October 29, 2014

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Kuhn's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on January 19, 2017.