Miami Standard (Baltimore, MD) – Baltimore County Police announced Monday the arrest and charging of a former Maryland priest and former sexual abuse whistleblower with multiple sex offences including second-degree child abuse.

According to a news release from the police, William “Father Bill” Mannion, 62, is charged with sexual abuse that allegedly took place between 1991 and 1994.

In October 2023, detectives from the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Baltimore County Police Department began looking into allegations of previous sexual abuse by a priest. A victim provided evidence on suspected abuse of Mannion in the 1990s in the 600 block of St. Agnes Lane in Catonsville during that inquiry, according to the police.

Police said there may be more victims of Mannion’s alleged assault and are asking others to come forward.

Mannion left the priesthood in the 1990s and was officially dismissed from the clerical state in 2004 “for reasons unrelated to abuse,” according to a statement released by the Archdiocese of Baltimore on Monday.

“The Archdiocese of Baltimore is saddened to learn of allegations of abuse by Mannion and is committed to cooperating fully with law enforcement. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is committed to protecting children and helping to heal victims of abuse. We urge anyone who has any knowledge of any child sexual abuse to contact law enforcement and call the Archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection,” the archdiocese said in the statement.

Early in the 1990s, Mannion informed the archdiocese of the abuse his former classmate at Catholic Community Middle School of Baltimore had endured at the hands of her old instructor, John J. Merzbacher. Merzbacher was given four life sentences and passed away in prison in 2023.

Reference: Former Maryland priest arrested for child sexual abuse allegations in the 1990s, police say