Knapp, Paul (Fr.)

Father Paul Knapp was ordained in June 1972. In 1992, parents reported to the Redemptorist Order that Knapp had sexually abused their daughter starting in 1975 when she was 13 years old. The abuse, which included oral rape and genital fondling, continued for three years while Knapp was assigned to St. Mary’s in Annapolis. The parents and their daughter claimed Knapp abused others and demanded that Knapp be removed from youth ministry. The Redemptorists informed the Archdiocese of the allegations in early 1993. Later that year, an article in a newspaper reported that Knapp had been removed from his position as associate pastor due to charges of sexual misconduct. Handwritten notes from the Archdiocese indicate that Knapp solicited a young woman during confession or on a retreat in New York and was subsequently sent to New Mexico for therapy.

In 2002, a person contacted the Archdiocese to recount an incident from 1978 or 1979 when they served as a chaperone on a service project led by Knapp. Witnesses claimed to have observed Knapp emerging from a teenage girl’s sleeping bag, and there were rumors of an inappropriate relationship with a girl at St. Mary’s High School. The Archdiocese informed the Redemptorist Order of the abuse, and the Order reported it to the authorities.