Sexual abuse allegations against deceased former chaplain at Ohio school deemed credible

CLEVELAND — A former student of an Ohio Catholic Jesuit school has accused a deceased Jesuit priest and former school chaplain of sexually abusing him when he was in school.

The accusation involves the late Fr. Frank Canfield, who worked at Saint Ignatius High School, an all-boys school in Cleveland. Canfield worked at the school from 2006-14 and died last year at the age of 87, according to WKYC.

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The school’s current president and chief mission officer, the Rev. Raymond P. Guiao said that an alumnus of the school first reported the allegations to him in December 2023. They claimed the alleged abuse happened during the 2011-12 school year.

Guiao shared that he reached out to the classes of 2007-17 last year regarding another sexual abuse allegation made against Canfield from when he was at Saint John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo that had been deemed credible. That prompted the former Saint Ignatius student to come forward.

The student was encouraged to contact the Jesuit Order’s Midwest Province. He did so and an investigation into the claim wrapped up in March. The former student’s claims were deemed credible, “meaning there is reasonable certainty that it occurred.”

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School officials “were deeply saddened to hear about this incident that happened 12 years ago at our school,” according to the statement obtained by WKYC and WOIO.

“The safety and well-being of our students are among our highest priorities and most sacred obligations, and we are deeply saddened to learn of sexual abuse that occurred at Saint Ignatius High School. We cooperated with investigators with full transparency. I reached out to the individual involved to offer him pastoral counsel and to express my most sincere apologies on behalf of the school,” Guiao said in a letter to the classes of 2007-17.

The school’s officials said they have “aggressive policies in place to protect student safety.”

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