Baltimore man sues nation's oldest seminary over negligence of sexual abuse

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore man is suing the country's oldest seminary and the religious order that runs it, claiming they were negligent in his sexual abuse at the hands of a seminarian in the 1970s.

Tom Finnerty, 61, said the abuse started when he was in the first grade. His family wanted him to have supplemental religious education, so they looked to St. Mary's Seminary & University for a tutor.

He was paired with then-seminarian John Banko.

What happened during that time has had a big impact throughout Finnerty's life.

"I have a little problem with authority figures. I had really bad, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety," he said.

Finnerty is now suing the institutions he claims caused his pain: St. Mary's and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States, the religious order that runs the seminary.

In the 23-page complaint filed Wednesday by the law firm SBWD Law, the abuse sometimes happened in open areas in the seminary. The complaint also claims the seminary had a reputation as a "breeding ground for pedophilia and promiscuous sexual behavior."

The abuse even went beyond the seminary's walls. The complaint said Banko would sometimes pick up Finnerty from school and assault him at Finnerty's home.

The complaint claims the seminary and the Archdiocese of Baltimore should have known the abuse was happening, but nothing was ever done.

In a statement to WJZ, St. Mary's said it reviewed the complaint.

"Due to the lack of substantiating evidence included in the complaint, St. Mary's is unable to comment further in detail at this time," the statement reads.

The Associated Sulpicians did not respond to WJZ's requests for comment.

"They did nothing to protect me. They took advantage of the people they were supposed to serve and help. I was one of them," Finnerty said.

This filing comes as the Supreme Court of Maryland will decide on the constitutionality of the Child Victims Act. Passed last year, it eliminated the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases.

"It is cases like this that make the CVA so important and explain why it is so necessary," Michael Belsky, an attorney with SBWD Law.

Banko was named in the Maryland Attorney General's Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He was convicted of sexually abusing boys in 2003 and 2006 in New Jersey.

Banko died while serving his sentence in 2016.

For Finnerty, he said telling his story now is about preventing this from happening again.

"It doesn't matter about me," Finnerty said, fighting back tears. "It matters more about making sure that no one else was getting abused."