Fr. John Joseph Mike Jr.
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Ordained: 1975
Faculties Removed: 1987
Convicted: 1987
Assignment History:
- 1971-1972 Seminarian, Our Lady Queen of Peace
- 1973-1974 Seminarian Intern, Nativity, Timonium, MD
- 1974-1975 Deacon, Most Precious Blood, Baltimore, MD
- 1975-1981 Associate Pastor, Church of the Ascension, Halethorpe, MD
- 1981-1987 Associate Pastor, St. Louis Parish, Clarksville, MD
- 1987-1988 Resident Assistant, St. Mary’s Church, Newington, CT
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Fr. John J. Mike Jr:
Fr. John Mike Jr. is one of the 156 priests identified by the Maryland Attorney General as having been accused of sexually abusing minors during their tenure with the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
According to the Attorney General’s report, a couple reported in 1987 that their 17-year-old son had been sexually and physically abused by Fr. Mike in 1986 at the St. Louis Parish in Clarksville. Fr. Mike decided to “test” the victim through acts of physical torture. Fr. Mike removed the victim’s clothes, put chains on him, tied the victim’s hands, forced him to run around with a log attached to his shoulders, tied him to a tree and whipped him, tied the victim’s hands and placed him face down in the back seat of a hot car with all windows closed, and tied around his neck and cuffed hands and feet so his movement would tighten the rope around his neck. After this incident, Fr. Mike repeatedly requested the victim join him for more “testing.”
According to the report, the victim’s aunt contacted the victim’s mother to report that her 16-year-old son had been the victim of similar abuse by Fr. Mike in 1987. Fr. Mike brought the victim to the rectory and the parish’s gymnasium in order to punish him. Fr. Mike tied up the victim, strangled him, poked his chest with a heated pin, forced the victim to strip and wear a loin cloth, tied the victim’s hands and feet and forced him to run as Fr. Mike chased and whipped him, suspended the victim from the basketball backboard by his hands, whipped him over 100 times, suspended the victim from the backboard by his feet, paddled him, strapped the victim to a ladder, poured hot wax on the victim’s back, and burned the victim with a needle.
According to the report, Fr. Mike admitted to and described the abuse in an interview with the Archdiocese’s attorney.
According to the report, Fr. Mike admitted in 1987 to similarly sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy at Ascension in Halethorpe in the 1980s. Fr. Mike also admitted in 1987 to having abused four other individuals.
Following Fr. Mike’s admission of guilt, his faculties were revoked and he was sent to an evaluation program at Johns Hopkins Hospital and then to the Institute of Living in Hartford. Fr. Mike was allowed to perform a baptism and wedding ceremony in 1987 in spite of the removal of his faculties.
According to the report, another couple reported in 1987 that their 16-year-old son had been sexually abused by Fr. Mike. The victim’s father reported seeing Fr. Mike force the victim to walk with a railroad tie log through a field. Fr. Mike then brought the victim into the gymnasium at the St. Louis Parish for approximately 30 minutes, where the lights were shut off.
According to media reports, in 1987, Fr. Mike pled guilty to one count of physical child abuse of one victim, with assault and battery charges dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Fr. Mike received a five-year sentence which was fully suspended and was placed on 5 years of probation.
According to the report, following the completion of Fr. Mike’s treatment at the Institute of the Living, Fr. Mike was placed at St. Mary’s Church in Newington, CT, where he remained until 1988.
According to the report, in 1989 a victim reported having been sexually abused by Fr. Mike at Ascension in Halethorpe in 1980, when he was 14 years old. Fr. Mike admitted to the abuse of this victim in 1987.
According to the report, a victim and his parents reported in 1990 that the victim had been sexually abused by Fr. Mike between 1981 and 1987 at the St. Louis Parish, beginning when the victim was in 8th grade and continuing throughout the victim’s time in high school. Fr. Mike tied up the victim and whipped him.
According to the report, another victim reported in 1994 having been sexually abused by Fr. Mike at Ascension on several occasions during a 7-year period, beginning when the victim was 15 years old. The victim went to Fr. Mike for confession and Fr. Mike offered alternative penance for the victim, which involved Fr. Mike tying the victim and whipping him, forcing the victim to hop around the gymnasium with his hands and feet tied while being whipped, and filming the victim while whipping him naked in a field.
According to the report, a victim reported in 2005 having been sexually abused by Fr. Mike sometime between 1975 and 1981, when the victim was an altar boy.
According to the report, a man reported in 2017 that his son was sexually abused by Fr. Mike.
According to the report, the Archdiocese received a report in 2019 that a victim had been physically and sexually abused by Fr. Mike during Fr. Mike’s tenure at Ascension parish sometime between 1975 and 1981.
Fr. Mike’s name appears on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s list of priests credibly accused of sexual misconduct with a minor.