Notre Dame Students Abused by Priest in ‘Weighing Scheme,’ Report Finds
A blistering report issued last week accuses the University of Notre Dame of failing to take action against a former priest despite years of alleged sexual misconduct against students while he was a dorm rector and while he worked at nearby Holy Cross College.
Rev. Thomas King conducted a coercive “weighing scheme” at Notre Dame during the 1980s and 1990s. As part of the scheme, he expressed worry over the health of male students and insisted that they go to a locker room and undress to be weighed.
“Once in the locker room he would direct students to undress fully before they stepped onto a scale,” the report said. “Multiple individuals, some of whom were weighed, were sexually touched or assaulted by Fr. King, both at Notre Dame and after he left.”
The law firm’s 25-page report concluded that Notre Dame, one of the nation’s leading Catholic universities, should have done more to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct in the case of Father King. The report noted that witnesses said they had complained to university employees about him as far back as the 1990s.
The report also noted that these instances were not the first time that the university had to confront allegations of sexual abuse by priests, and listed two other instances when priests had been accused.
The law firm interviewed staff in two separate departments that supposedly received the complaints, but no one could remember having received them, the report said. In other cases, the report said, university employees who heard the complaints did not understand the sexual implications of the “weighing.”
In 1997, Father King left Notre Dame for Holy Cross College, then a two-year institution that served as a feeder school to the larger university. He remained there for about 10 years, where he held sway over students because he was instrumental in recommending students for transfer to Notre Dame. The report said there were at least 15 cases of the “weighing scheme” across the two schools.
In addition to his time at Notre Dame and Holy Cross College, Father King served at parishes near Lakeville, Indiana, and Niles, Michigan. Following complaints there, he entered a senior home for priests in the Order of the Holy Cross, the report said.
The law firm said that during the course of its investigation, it was told of other priests who were accused of misconduct. Its report detailed claims against one of them, the Rev. David Porterfield, the rector at another Notre Dame dormitory, Sorin Hall.
Father Porterfield resigned in 1983 after Notre Dame learned of a complaint against him, but was later rehired, the report said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/us/no...finds.html
A blistering report issued last week accuses the University of Notre Dame of failing to take action against a former priest despite years of alleged sexual misconduct against students while he was a dorm rector and while he worked at nearby Holy Cross College.
Rev. Thomas King conducted a coercive “weighing scheme” at Notre Dame during the 1980s and 1990s. As part of the scheme, he expressed worry over the health of male students and insisted that they go to a locker room and undress to be weighed.
“Once in the locker room he would direct students to undress fully before they stepped onto a scale,” the report said. “Multiple individuals, some of whom were weighed, were sexually touched or assaulted by Fr. King, both at Notre Dame and after he left.”
The law firm’s 25-page report concluded that Notre Dame, one of the nation’s leading Catholic universities, should have done more to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct in the case of Father King. The report noted that witnesses said they had complained to university employees about him as far back as the 1990s.
The report also noted that these instances were not the first time that the university had to confront allegations of sexual abuse by priests, and listed two other instances when priests had been accused.
The law firm interviewed staff in two separate departments that supposedly received the complaints, but no one could remember having received them, the report said. In other cases, the report said, university employees who heard the complaints did not understand the sexual implications of the “weighing.”
In 1997, Father King left Notre Dame for Holy Cross College, then a two-year institution that served as a feeder school to the larger university. He remained there for about 10 years, where he held sway over students because he was instrumental in recommending students for transfer to Notre Dame. The report said there were at least 15 cases of the “weighing scheme” across the two schools.
In addition to his time at Notre Dame and Holy Cross College, Father King served at parishes near Lakeville, Indiana, and Niles, Michigan. Following complaints there, he entered a senior home for priests in the Order of the Holy Cross, the report said.
The law firm said that during the course of its investigation, it was told of other priests who were accused of misconduct. Its report detailed claims against one of them, the Rev. David Porterfield, the rector at another Notre Dame dormitory, Sorin Hall.
Father Porterfield resigned in 1983 after Notre Dame learned of a complaint against him, but was later rehired, the report said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/us/no...finds.html
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
