Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1980-2026 · 46 years · show in timeline

University of Notre Dame 1980 to 2026: Investigation report for the Board of Trustees finds that a priest of the order, as residence hall rector, had students weighed naked and sexually assaulted several; the university handed the 2018 complaint to the order

In September 2025 the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of Notre Dame in Indiana commissioned the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, led by former sex crimes prosecutor Helen Cantwell, to investigate a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross who was rector of the Zahm Hall residence from 1980 to 1997. The report of May 2026 finds that, under the pretext of concern for their health, he drove students to a gym and weighed them naked; the report considers 15 of those affected credible, and according to the report several were sexually touched or assaulted. The university had passed the first complaint of 2018 to the order, which never formally interviewed the complainant. The report also covers the late Fr. David Porterfield, whom the university rehired in 1984 despite known allegations. The priest from Zahm Hall is alive, declined an interview through his lawyer, and no court has examined the allegations; he is therefore not named here.

Period
1980-2026 (46 years)
Country
United States
Institutions
University of Notre Dame
Congregation of Holy Cross
Holy Cross College
Diocese of Kalamazoo
Category
Sexual abuse
Level of evidence
A Primary source · what does this mean?
Persons
David Porterfield (Priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, residence hall rector at the University of Notre Dame; according to the 2026 investigation report repeatedly accused of abusing students, deceased)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. According to the report, in the 1990s the rector drove students to the Rockne Memorial Gym under the pretext of health concerns and had them undress fully in the locker room, supposedly to get an accurate weight. The report considers 15 of those affected credible, including six Holy Cross College students who wanted to transfer to Notre Dame; according to the report he threatened one to block his admission if he told anyone. According to the report several people were sexually touched or assaulted, and in 2023 a former student said he had been raped in the gym shower. According to the report there are questions about the credibility of two complainants; given the number of other allegations it nevertheless concludes that the misconduct went beyond the weighing.
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil I
    „naked in order to obtain an accurate reading of their weight“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil I. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil I
    „Debevoise has identified 15 individuals who were credibly subjected to“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil I. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV g
    „We identified six witnesses who were“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV g. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil I
    „multiple individuals, some of whom were weighed, were sexually touched or assaulted by“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil I. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV d ix
    „stating for the first time that he was raped in the shower of the Rockne by“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV d ix. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV, Fn. 12
    „Various questions have been raised about the credibility of two reporters alleging“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV, Fn. 12. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. In September 2025 the Board of Trustees set up a Special Committee to oversee the work of the Debevoise firm under Helen Cantwell; Cantwell had no connection to Notre Dame, the order or the other institutions involved. The firm conducted 101 interviews and reviewed more than 1,000 documents from the university, the order, Holy Cross College and the dioceses of Fort Wayne-South Bend and Kalamazoo. The accused priest declined an interview through his lawyer.
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil II
    „Ms. Cantwell has no prior connection to Notre Dame“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil II. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil II
    „In total, Debevoise conducted 101 interviews“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil II. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil II
    „A total of over 1,000“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil II. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil II a
    „refused our request for an interview“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil II a. Original

What happened to those affected?

  1. In January 2020, at the direction of the order, the priest had to cease all formal ministry and moved into a house of the order for elderly and ill members. In 2020 the Diocese of Kalamazoo reported the complaint to the Michigan Attorney General, and in 2025 a further allegation to the Notre Dame police, South Bend police and state police. The report recommends that the university investigate allegations against clergy itself in future, even if they are no longer employed by it.
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil III d
    „ceased any formal ministry and moved into Holy Cross House“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil III d. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV i
    „The Diocese reported the matter to the Michigan“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV i. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV i
    „Bend Police, and State Police.“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV i. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil VI a
    „the policy should specify that Notre Dame will independently address reports against clergy“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil VI a. Original

Background

Response of the Church

  1. Because the priest had not been employed by the university for 21 years, Notre Dame passed the 2018 complaint to the order. The order never formally interviewed the complainant; the university took no further action on a 2021 letter mentioning three further victims. Two former residents said they had reported the weighing to the Office of Residence Life as early as 1995/96 and in spring 1997; neither the university nor the investigators found records of this. According to the report the university did not recognise the reported conduct as boundary crossing and grooming. Parishioners in Niles were told the 2019 removal was for health reasons, while internally the order acknowledged that the 2018 complaint was a factor.
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV d ii
    „Dame referred the matter to the Order for an investigation into the allegations“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV d ii. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV d iv
    „no formal interview of“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV d iv. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV d vi
    „it appears that no efforts were made to ascertain“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV d vi. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV d viii
    „No evidence of these complaints was identified during the search“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV d viii. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil I
    „recognize the reported conduct to be at a minimum boundary crossing“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil I. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil IV h i
    „Witnesses we spoke to were told that he was removed for health reasons“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil IV h i. Original
  2. Fr. David Porterfield resigned as rector of Sorin Hall in 1983 shortly after the university learned of an abuse allegation; in January 1984 it rehired him as assistant rector of Grace Hall. After a further allegation in 1986 he left the university without a public announcement. In 2009, despite three known allegations, the Alumni Association referred an alumnus struggling with addiction to him for counselling. Despite a safety plan by the order in 2011, according to the report he continued to have access to young men, including at Alcoholics Anonymous retreats until 2018.
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil V a i
    „at least one complaint of sexual abuse of a student by Fr. Porterfield“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil V a i. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil V a i
    „Dame as an assistant rector at Grace Hall“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil V a i. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil V a i
    „No public announcement was“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil V a i. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil V a ii
    „unwittingly referred by the Notre Dame Alumni Association“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil V a ii. Original
    Evidence: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame, Teil V a iv
    „Despite his safety plan, Fr. Porterfield continued to have access to young men“
    Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Teil V a iv. Original

Original documents to read

  1. Commission report
    Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Helen Cantwell, im Auftrag des Kuratoriums der University of Notre Dame: Report to the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, 28 May 2026. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
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