Greensburg diocese to comb through 10K personnel files to see if more convicts are working at parishes

The personnel files of 1,000 employees and 9,000 volunteers in the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg will be under a microscope as diocesan officials work on an audit to learn whether any of them have criminal records.

The audit, which is expected to take several months, comes after a cursory review by parish priests didn’t reveal any issues, according to diocesan spokesman Cliff Gorski.

The moves were ordered after officials learned of a now-former employee’s criminal record.

Bishop Larry Kulick asked pastors at all parishes to look over those records and certify them in the wake of an investigation being led by Westmoreland County detectives into how the ex-employee’s criminal history was missed by church officials. The diocese also asked police to look into the matter.

Melanie Jones, spokesperson for the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office, said that probe continues.

The investigation was announced May 28.

Work on a summerlong audit of employee files for all 1,000 lay and clergy employees and about 9,000 volunteers is being scheduled, Gorski said. Tim Fogarty, director of human resources, is leading that effort.

Also being scheduled are mandatory safe environment training sessions for clergy and employees.

The worker in question, Shon M. Harrity, 47, of North Huntingdon, was arrested May 8 by North Huntingdon police, who charged him with rape and sexual assault. He is accused of sexually assaulting a girl for two years.

The charges are not related to his employment with the diocese. When Harrity was hired in 2012 as a maintenance worker at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in North Huntingdon, he was not required to complete a background clearance. Once the diocese changed its policy, he underwent criminal background checks in 2015 and 2020.

Harrity’s criminal background includes guilty pleas in the early 2000s to charges of indecent exposure, open lewdness, disorderly conduct and drug possession.

Diocese officials said that should have barred him from employment.

In 2023, he was transferred to the cemetery of Irwin’s Immaculate Conception Parish.

His employee records at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton included a complete list of Harrity’s criminal history, but some clearance documents were missing from the file at Immaculate Conception, according to diocese officials.

In the aftermath of Harrity’s arrest, the Rev. John Moineau, pastor of the North Huntingdon and Irwin parishes, resigned at Kulick’s request. Moineau is set to begin a medical leave Monday, with his medical and retirement benefits remaining intact.

Three parish employees remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The Rev. Michael J. Crookston will take over duties at the parishes starting Monday .