Father Paul Knapp
Archdiocese of Baltimore/Redemptorist
Ordained: 1972
Removed: 1995
Laicized: 1996
Assignment History:
- 1973-1981: St. Mary’s Church and High School (Annapolis, MD)
- 1981-1983: St. Gerard (Lima, OH)
- 1983-1993: St. Clement’s (Saratoga Springs, NY)
- 1993-1995: Leave of Absence until dismissal from order and priesthood
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Paul Knapp:
Fr. Paul Knapp was ordained a Redemptorist priest and worked in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In 2002, Fr. Knapp 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 Father Paul Knapp.
According to the Attorney General’s report, in 1992, a report was made to the Redemptorist Order that Fr. Knapp sexually abused their daughter in 1975 on multiple occasions, beginning when the girl was 13 years old while Knapp was assigned to St. Mary’s in Annapolis. They claim the abuse consisted of oral rape and genital fondling that continued over a three-year period. The parents and their daughter said there were other victims as well and that they wanted Knapp out of youth ministry. The Redemptorists notified the Archdiocese of Baltimore in early 1993. Fr. Knapp took a leave of absence in 1995 and laicized the following year.
In 2002, a woman reported to the archdiocese that as a college student in 1978, she chaperoned a month-long service project for high school students led by Fr. Knapp. Knapp brought another teenage girl along on the project, and other participants in the project told her that they saw Knapp getting out of the teenage girl’s sleeping bag, and there were rumors that Fr. Knapp had an inappropriate relationship with a girl at St. Mary’s High School. Fr, Knapp was transferred the following year to a parish in Ohio.
Along with Baltimore, Fr. Knapp was added to the Toledo diocese’s list of credibly accused of sexual abuse with a minor in 2019.
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.