Assignment Record– Rev. George F. Bailey

Summary of Case: Bailey was accused by at least ten women of sexually abusing them when they were grade school students at St. Vincent School in Akron and St. Mary's School in Bedford. Apparently these accusations were made known to the diocese before Bailey left active ministry in the late 1980s. His laicization by the Vatican was announced in March 2014.

Ordained: 1963
Laicized: 2014

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1963

Cleveland bishop was Edward Francis Hoban (1945-1966), followed by Clarence George Issenmann (1966-1974)

1968 St. Vincent's

Akron

• At least 10 women have accused Bailey of sexually abusing them when they were grade school children at St. Vincent's and at St. Mary's in Bedford. (Plain Dealer [Cleveland, Ohio]
November 23, 2002)

OH

5/5 , 4/5, 3/4

 

 Parish had a grade school with 715-628 students and a high school with 809-786 students.
1968 1969 Holy Family Cleveland (Parma) OH 3/4 Parish had a school with 924 students.
1969 1974 Immaculate Conception/St. Mary-Immaculate Conception/St. Mary

Bedford

• At least 10 women have accused Bailey of sexually abusing them when they were grade school children at St. Mary's and at St. Vincent's in Akron. (Plain Dealer [Cleveland, Ohio]
November 23, 2002)

 OH 3/3 Parish had a school with 563-299 students.

1974

James Aloysius Hickey replaced Issenmann as bishop (1974-1980)

1977 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Wickliffe OH 2/3, 2/4 Parish had a school with 900-758 students.
1977 1978 St. Augustine's Barberton OH 3/4  
1978 1983 Immaculate Conception Madison OH 2/2  

1983

Anthony Michael Pilla succeeded Hickey as bishop (1980-2006)

1989 St. Francis Xavier Medina OH 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 Parish had a school with 285-361 students.
1989 1990 Absent on Leave      

Bailey is not indexed in the Directories after 1990.

Per news reports, Bailey left the priesthood.

Baily's laicization by the Vatican was announced in March 2014. (Beacon Journal March 14, 2014)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1964-1990).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Bailey's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on October 25, 2016.