Rev. David J. Malsch-Assignment

Assignment Record – Rev. David J. Malsch

Ordained: 1967

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1967 Bishop of Superior was George Albert Hammes (1960-1985)	1974	Our Lady of the Holy Rosary	Medford	WI	Malsch worked under Very Rev. Joseph Miller, and, for a short time, with Rev. Andrew Berthold.	Parish had a school with 299-471 students.
1968	1971	Taylor County Teachers College	Medford	WI	Chaplain
1972	1984	Diocesan Boy Scouts		WI	Chaplain
1972	1974	Wisconsin State University Branch Campus, Stevens Point	Medford	WI	Chaplain
1974	1975	St. Joseph's	Rhinelander	WI	2/2 Malsch worked under Rev. Richard Burzynski.	Parish had a school with 453 students.
1976		Cathedral Junior High School	Superior	WI	religion teacher	This assignment. is per news reports.
1975	January 1984	St. Patrick's	Superior • In 1979 Malsch plied two 12- and 13-year-old brothers with alcohol, showed them pornography, and tried to pull the pants off of the 13-year-old. In 1982 or 1983, Malsch sexually assaulted the younger brother. • Malsch "Indecently touched" a 14-year-old boy in the rectory of St. Patrick's in Jan. 1984.	WI	1/1
January 1984	August 1984	Absent on Leave		MN		Indexed in the Official Catholic Directory as absent on leave, yet still listed in diocesan pages as Boy Scout Chaplain. Malsch was sent to a church-sponsored inpatient treatment center in Minnesota.
1984 Raphael Michael Fliss replaced Hammes as Superior Bishop (1985-2007)	1986	St. Joseph's	Rhinelander	WI	2/2 Malsch worked under Rev. Allan Bradley.	Parish had a school with 291 students.
1986	1992	St. Mary's	Tomahawk • Malsch was allowed to counsel children with emotional and learning problems. • Malsch was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy with learning disabilities in 1991.	WI	2/2, 2/3 Malsch is listed second after Rev. Robert O'Connell 1987-1989, then second under Rev. Gerald P. Harris 1990-1992. A third priest, Rev. Michael Tupa, is listed after Malsch 1991-1992.	Although he is listed in the diocesan pages of the Directory for 1991-1992, Malsch is indexed as absent on leave for that time period. Malsch was removed from ministry in May 1991 and sent to a counseling program on the East Coast as a result of the accusation involving the 14 year-old learning disabled boy. He was charged in this case in 1993, pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to a year in jail.
1992	1993	Absent on Leave				Malsch is not indexed in the Directories beyond 1994.
1993	1994	Jail		IN		Per news reports, Malsch "served time in an Indiana jail, with work release, and was allowed to participate in outpatient sex offender treatment."
November 1994	April 1995	Jail		WI		In custody in Wisconsin.
April 1995	May 1997			WI		Released to community supervision.
1997	1999?	Oshkosh Correctional Institution	Oshkosh	WI

1999	Dec. 2000?		Oshkosh	WI		"Held in a secure mental health facility".
2001	2003	Wounded Brothers Recon Facility	Robertsville • In 2003 Malsch was arrested when found to have child pornography in his room.	MO		Malsch was committed to this facility for "troubled priests" as a sexually violent person. Malsch pleaded guilty to the child porn charge and was sentenced in 2005 to nine years in prison. Malsch was removed from the priesthood in June 2005.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1968-1994).

• $10,000 Bond Ordered for Priest in Sex Case, Chicago Tribune, November 6, 1992
• Ex-Priest Sentenced for Sexually Assaulting Boy, Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1993
• Suit Focuses on Ex-Priest, By Gary Borg, Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1995
• Ex-Priest a Sex Predator, Malsch Will Go to Treatment Center for Former Clergy, By Peter J. Wasson, Wausau Daily Herald,
December 23, 2000
• With Church's Help, State Priest Dodged Abuse Claims, By Mary Zahn and Tom Kertscher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 2, 2002
• Bishop Regrets Handling of Case, In Letter, Fliss Says He Should Have Dealt with Priest Sooner, By Tom Heinen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 4, 2002
• Special Reports, Dallas Morning News, June 12, 2002
• Priest Indicted over Child Pornography, He Was Committed to Treatment Facility in 2001 As Sexual Predator, By Tom Kertscher and Mary ZahnMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 8, 2003
• Retired Priest Pleads Guilty in Child Porn Case, By Jim Salter, Associated Press, carried in Duluth News Tribune, February 28, 2005
• Priest in Halfway House Had Child Porn, Courts: Case Involving Ex-Superior Priest Raises Concerns about Church's Handling of Sexually Abusive Priests, By Jim Salter, Associated Press, carried in Duluth News Tribune, March 2, 2005
• Former Priest Sentenced to Nine Years on Child Porn Charge, By Jim Salter, Associated Press, carried in Duluth News Tribune,
December 09, 2005
• Former Priest Sentenced in Child-Porn Case Dec 10, WAOW, December 12, 2005
• Suspended Pedophile Priests Committing Subsequent Crimes Recently, SNAP, December 30, 2008

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.

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 & 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 was last updated April 3, 2013.