Fr. Ronald Belschner
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Ordained: 1965
Removed: 1991
Assignment History
- 1965 – 1969: St. Mark (Catonsville, MD)
- 1969 – 1976: St. Gregory the Great (Baltimore, MD)
- 1976 – 1981: All Saints (Baltimore, MD)
- 1981 – 1989: St. Joseph (Buckeystown, MD)
- 1989 – 1991: St. Mary (Cumberland, MD)
Summary of Abuse Allegations Against Father Ronald Belschner
Father Ronald Belschner was a Catholic priest who worked in multiple parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. In 2019, Fr. Belschner was listed on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors list. In April 2023, Maryland’s Attorney General released a report alleging 156 Catholic clergy members sexually abused at least 600 children over six decades. The report lists the names of the abusers, including Fr. Belschner.
According to the AG’s report, in December 2017, a victim reported that he had been sexually abused by Belschner at St. Gregory the Great in 1975 and 1976, when he was 14 or 15. He claimed that Belschner orally raped him twice and hugged him inappropriately two other times. In one of those hugs, he could feel Belschner’s penis against his back. Belschner asked him whether it felt good, to which the victim responded “no.” The oral rape occurred in Belschner’s office, after he had asked the victim to help him with something. After the sexual assault, the victim went home, cried, and threw up. He stopped going to church and soon dropped out of high school. A few years later, he went to find Belschner at All Saints and confronted him. Belschner gave him $5 and seemed to be afraid.
In October 2020, a man reported that he was sexually abused by Belschner between 1976 and 1979. He lived near St. Gregory the Great and met Belschner at the activity center there. The victim had run away from home and Belschner said he had set up a home for youth like him. Belschner took him to his apartment where he fondled then anally raped the boy. He assaulted him on multiple occasions until the victim distanced himself from Belschner. The archdiocese made the mandatory reports to authorities in 2017 and 2020.
Although he denied the allegations, Belschner went on a leave of absence in 1991 after an 8th-grade boy described Belschner in a parish survey as a “bad priest”and was permanently removed from ministry the same year.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Maryland, contact our office today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse nationwide. We can help. Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.