Assignment Record – Bro. Shawn McEnany, S.C.

Summary of Case: A Brother of the Sacred Heart, New England Province, McEnany was convicted in 1988 of "unlawful sexual contact" with a 15 year-old girl. The girl was a student at St Dominic's in Lewiston, ME, which was then a Brothers of the Sacred Heart school. McEnany received two jail sentences of 364 days and one year of probation. The victim's mother stated in 1997 that the Order urged her in 1988 to keep the accusations quiet. Despite his conviction, McEnany was allowed in 1990 to teach at another Brothers of the Sacred Heart school, Bishop Guertin, in Nashua, NH. He was removed from Guertin High in 1997, after New Hampshire authorities discovered he was teaching there. He was charged with teaching as a convicted sex offender and failing to register as a sex offender. The charges were later dropped. McEnany is last known to be living in the Order's Pascoag, RI community and working as a clinical social worker.

First Vows: 1983



   

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/1999_06_15_AP_ChargesDropped_Shawn_McEnany_9.htm
Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

 

Portland bishop was Edwin Cornelius O'Leary (1974-1988)

Bros. of Sacred Heart, NE Provincial was Bro. Leo R. Labbe, S.C. (1985-1991)

1988 St. Dominic Regional High School

Lewiston

McEnany was accused of and charged in 1988 with "unlawful sexual contact" with a 15 year-old girl, who was a St. Dominic student. The girl's mother stated that school officials urged her to keep the accusations quiet.

ME McEnany pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to two suspended jail sentences of 364 days and one year of probation.

1988

O'Leary was succeeded by Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B. (1988-2004)

1990          

1990

Manchester bishop was Leo Edward O'Neil (1990-1997)

Labbe was succeeded as Provincial by Bro. Roland Oulette, S.C (1991-1997)

1997 Bishop Guertin High School Nashua NH religion teacher

McEnany was removed from Bishop Guertin in Nov. 1997 after NH authorities learned of his 1988 conviction. He was then charged with teaching as a convicted sex offender, and for not registering as a sex offender. The Bishop Guertin community rallied behind McEnany. The charges were dropped just before trial in June 1999, due to inconsistencies in the state law.

A former Bishop Guertin administrator said the school knew of McEnany's conviction when they hired him in 1990, but didn't think it would be a problem because the school was all-boys at the time. Bishop Guertin started admitting girls in 1992.

Providence bishop was Robert Edward Mulvee (1997-2005), followed by Thomas Joseph Tobin
(2005-)

Bro. Robert F. Breault, S.C. replaced Oulette as Provincial (1997-2003), followed by Bro. Raymond Reinsant, S.C. (2003-2008), and then Bro. Robert Croteau, S.C.
(2008-)

    Pascoag RI   In Oct. 2012 McEnany's Facebook page showed him to have been working since 2005 as a clinician at Gateway Healthcare, Inc. in Pawtucket, RI. He has a Master's Degree in Social Work.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons)


Teacher Backed Despite His Past, Portland Press Herald (Maine), November 13, 1997
Bishop Guertin Religion Teacher Likely to Face Sex Offender Charge, By Kate Munro, Union Leader (Manchester, NH), November 13, 1997
Maine Sex Conviction Haunts N.H. Teacher, Associated Press, carried in Portland Press Herald (Maine)
November 14, 1997
Religion, Law Clash at Bishop Guertin, By Kate Munro, The Union Leader (Manchester, NH), November 17, 1997
Hold Teacher Accountable, Mother Urges, Portland Press Herald (Maine)
November 20, 1997
Teacher Challenges Sex Offender Law, Associated Press, carried in Portland Press Herald (Maine), December 21, 1997
Brother McEnany Pleads Innocent to Sex-Offender Teaching Charges, By Kate Munro, Union Leader (Manchester, NH), January 9, 1998
N.H. High School Teacher Continues to Fight Sex Law, Associated Press, carried in Portland Press Herald (Maine), January 10, 1998
Court Refuses to Hear Former Teacher's Appeal, Associated Press, carried in Portland Press Herald (Maine), February 20, 1999
Charges Dropped against Sex Offender, Associated Press, carried in Portland Press Herald (Maine), June 15, 1999
Teachers at Catholic High School Investigated, Associated Press State & Local Wire, March 26, 2002
Lawyer Says School Legally Responsible for Abuse by Teacher, Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 27, 2003
Maine A.G. Report, Feb. 24, 2004



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 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 McEnany's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation 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 Nov.13, 2012