Former Baltimore Area Priest Arrested for Child Sex Abuse

Detectives believe there are more survivors who have not yet come forward to pursue lawsuits against the Baltimore priest under the Maryland Childhood Victims Act, which was passed in 2023.

Baltimore County Police arrested William “Father Bill” Mannion late last month, accusing the former priest of multiple child sexual abuse crimes, dating back to when he was a priest at St. Agnes Catholic School, in Catonsville, Maryland.  

According to a press release issued by the Baltimore County government, Mannion, 62, was taken into custody after someone came forward and indicated the priest had abused them multiple times between 1991 and 1994, beginning when they were just 7 years old.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has maintained that it was unaware of the incidents, and that Mannion left the priesthood voluntarily sometime in the late 1990s, to get married and raise a family.

“In October 2023, detectives with the Baltimore County Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit were alerted of past sexual abuse by a former priest,” the Baltimore County press release states. “During their investigation, the survivor provided information regarding sexual abuse by 62-year-old William ‘Father Bill’ Mannion that occurred from approximately 1991 through 1994 in the 600 block of St. Agnes Lane, 21229. On March 24, 2025, Mannion was arrested and charged with second degree child abuse and multiple sex offenses.”

The press release indicates the detectives believe there may be more victims of Mannion, urging them, or anyone with information about these crimes, to contact the Crimes Against Children Unit at 410-887-7720 or Child Protective Services at 410-887-8463.

Maryland Child Victims Act

The detectives were allowed to bring criminal charges in this case, after decades had passed, because Maryland has no statute of limitations on felonies.

However, the arrest comes less than two months after the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that the Maryland Child Victims Act, a 2023 law that removed all time limits on the ability of survivors to file child sex abuse civil lawsuits, was constitutional. The law allows civil lawsuits against individuals who abused them, and the institutions where the abuse occurred.

The law was originally passed just days after the Maryland Attorney General released a Baltimore Archdiocese child sex abuse report, which contained information about Catholic priests that abused children in Maryland over the last 60 years. The report included the names of 146 priests, deacons, seminarians and others who have been credibly accused by more than 300 victims and witnesses who came forward during the investigation.

In anticipation of legal challenges, Maryland lawmakers included a provision that allowed an interlocutory appeal to be immediately pursued, so that the Maryland Supreme Court could consider the case before any individual lawsuits result in a final judgment.

In September 2024, the state’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Maryland Child Victims Act constitutionality, in an appeal brought by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On February 4, the Court issued an opinion deeming the Maryland Child Victims Act constitutional.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just days before the law went into effect in early October 2023, indicating that it could not survive the wave of incoming child sex abuse lawsuits. Various reports indicate the Archdiocese was the target of at least 700 lawsuits dating back to incidents across the last several decades.