Assignment Record– Rev. Ellis N. Harsham In a lawsuit settled in 1994, a man alleged that Harsham sexually abused him as during 1975-1977, when the man was a high school student who met Harsham while attending a pre-seminary program on weekends at St. Gregory's Minor Seminary. The man said Harsham plied him with alcohol, marijuana and pornography. In a suit filed in December 1993, another man claimed Harsham sexually assaulted him when the man was a Badin High School student; Harsham taught at Badin 1977-1981. Further, former students of Carroll High School in Dayton, where Harsham taught 1968-1973, stated in the 1990s that the priest showed them pornography and seduced or attempted to seduce them. Harsham was placed on administrative leave by the archdiocese in June 1994, and he resigned from active ministry later that year. His status remained "administrative leave" until sometime in 2006, when he was laicized. |
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| Start | Stop | Assignments | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
June 1968 Archdiocese of Cincinnati Archbishop was Karl Joseph Alter (1950-1969), followed by Paul Francis Leibold (1969-1972), and Joseph Louis Bernardin (1972-1982). |
June 1973 | St. Helen's | Dayton | OH | 3/3 | St. Helen's had a school with 700-368 boys and 654-393 girls. |
| 1968 | June 1973 | Archbishop Carroll High School | Dayton • In the 1990s former Carroll students alleged Harsham showed them pornography. Others said he seduced or attempted to seduce them. |
OH | biology and religion teacher | |
| 1973 | 1974 | St. Dominic's | Cincinnati (Delhi Hills) | OH | 3/3 | St. Dominic's had a school with 978 students. |
| 1974 | 1977 | St. Gregory Minor Seminary | Cincinnati • Harsham was accused in a lawsuit settled in April 1994 of sexual abuse of a youth 1975-1977. His accuser said the abuse occurred when he was a senior at Elder High School participating in a pre-seminary program at St. Gregory's. He said Harsham plied him with alcohol, marijuana and pornography. |
OH | faculty member | St. Gregory's had 87-79 students. The man who accused Harsham, Steven Cook, also accused Archbishop Bernardin of sexual abuse. He later withdrew his complaint against Bernardin. In 1993 Chancellor Rev. Dan Conlon said Harsham was removed from St. Gregory's because of sexual behavior with an adult seminarian. |
| 1977 | 1981 | St. Peter in Chains | Hamilton | OH | 3/3 | St. Peter in Chains had a school with 346-332 students |
| 1977 | 1981 | Badin High School | Hamilton • Harsham was accused in a lawsuit filed in December 1993 of sexually assaulting a youth when he was a senior at Badin in 1981. The former student claimed Harsham repeatedly touched his genitals. |
OH | teacher | |
1981 Bernardin was succeeded as Cincinnati archbishop by Daniel Edward Pilarczyk (1982-2009).
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June 1994 | Wright State University | Dayton | OH | campus ministry director | |
| 1981 | June 1994 | St. Luke's | Beavercreek | OH | 3/3, 2/3, 2/2 | St. Luke's had a school with 346-522 students, and a religious education program with 547-466 students. Harsham is not indexed beyond the 1994 Directory. Harsham was placed on administrative leave by the archdiocese in June 1994. He resigned from active ministry in October of that year. His status with the archdiocese remained "administrative leave" until his laicization in 2006. |
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. • Cook Clears Bernardin Harsham Lawsuit Says, By David E. Kepple, Dayton Daily News (Ohio), March 1, 1994 |
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