An external investigation into priest and rector Father Thomas King, C.S.C. uncovered stories of another priest-rector accused of sexually abusing college students for decades.
On May 28, 2026, the University of Notre Dame released a report culminating an investigation launched last fall into allegations of misconduct into former Zahm Hall Rector, Fr. King. The external investigation, referred to henceforth as the Cantwell Report, was conducted by attorney Helen Cantwell who has deep experience in conducting sensitive investigations involving allegations of sexual misconduct.
Cantwell’s research involved over 100 interviews and 1,000 documents from current and former faculty and staff at Notre Dame and Holy Cross leadership, and the Dioceses of Fort Wayne-South Bend and Kalamazoo.
The report exceeded its goal of validating sexual misconduct by Fr. King, finding evidence of sexual misconduct by several other priests at Notre Dame throughout the 1980s to 2010s. The investigation verifies the purported misconduct in Zahm Hall, including Fr. King’s alleged scheme of asking the boys to strip completely or almost naked so they could be weighed—ostensibly out of concern for their health. Some victims say that Fr. King’s conduct included sexual touching and rape.
The report identified three additional perpetrators: Father David Porterfield, C.S.C., Father James Burtchaell, C.S.C., and Father Robert Huneke. Fr. Burtchaell was investigated in 1990 and forced to resign. Posthumous reports about Fr. Huneke’s behavior resulted in then-university president Father Edward Malloy, C.S.C. launching a three-person committee to investigate clergy misconduct.
Fr. Porterfield
Allegations against Fr. Porterfield were also brought to this 2003 committee, but he remained in public ministry for several years thereafter. Fr. Porterfield is accused of grooming, propositioning, and sexually assaulting students over decades. Many of the reports include wearing down the victims’ defenses by supplying alcohol.
Victims and families worked together for several years to gather an extensive timeline of allegations and the university’s response—sourced from first-hand testimony, news clippings, and reports including the Cantwell Report. They have shared this research with the Rover. A small sample of the collected evidence is represented below:
Fr. Porterfield was first accused of sexual misconduct in 1981, when a student brought forth the allegations to a resident assistant (RA). In March of 1983, another report of misconduct was brought to the RA.
Within weeks of the second report of sexual misconduct, he was removed from Sorin Hall. The Observer reported in 1983 that his resignation came due to feeling “overextended,” working as both a hall rector and sitting on the admissions board.
Less than a year later, Fr. Porterfield was back in the residence halls, now as an assistant rector in Grace Hall. There, he was again accused of sexual misconduct. Fr. Porterfield left the university following investigations into his conduct by the university and the Congregation.
Fr. Porterfield was reassigned to various parishes in South Bend, eventually serving as pastor at Sts. Casimir and Stanislas, later Sts. Casimir and Adalbert. In the 1990s through 2010s, Fr. Porterfield also served as a volunteer chaplain to South Bend Police and Fire Departments, and continued to lead Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) retreats as late as 2018.
The Dallas Charter, which has governed Catholic response to clergy sexual misconduct since 2002, requires “When a priest or deacon, not incardinated in the diocese/eparchy, is to engage in ministry in the diocese/eparchy, regardless of the length of time, the evaluation of his background may be satisfied through a written attestation of suitability for ministry supplied by his proper ordinary/major superior to the diocese/eparchy.” Priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross report to the Provincial Superior.
Although reports of abuse by Fr. Porterfield were made as early as 1981, and then revisited in 2003, Fr. Porterfield was not relieved of public ministry. Following the 2003 investigation, he was reassigned as the Assistant Superior at Holy Cross House and then the Superior at Fatima House, a religious retirement home.
Representatives for the Congregation of Holy Cross had not responded to the Rover’s request for comment by press time.
The Cantwell Report states, “In regard to Fr. Porterfield, the University lacked a consistent and reliable system of records to track and manage restrictions on his activities, which allowed him to return to campus in 1984 and later enabled the unwitting referral by the Alumni Association of an alumnus to Fr. Porterfield for counseling in 2009.”
Fr. Porterfield is now deceased, having passed away in 2025. Nevertheless, friends of the victims feel the report was not enough. The Rover spoke to multiple victim advocates relating to the Porterfield case.
One advocate, whose son was allegedly groomed by Fr. Porterfield, told the Rover, “There’s so much more work to be done, but I think they just frankly want to move on because it’s an eyesore to them.” She wishes there was a much higher level of accountability on behalf of the university and the Congregation.
Another advocate, whose ex-husband was allegedly sexually assaulted by Fr. Porterfield in 1982, only learned about the history of abuse in 2010. Fr. Porterfield was still living and ministering in South Bend during that time. Her advocacy intensified on behalf of potential future victims, including her son, who was living in Sorin Hall in 2010. She told the Rover, “I wanted to protect people.” She approached the police department, diocese, and university numerous times with her concerns.
As a result of the investigation, the university put out new guidelines for dealing with allegations of sexual assault by its faculty. As outlined in the announcement of the report, guidelines include a new oversight policy; enhanced information sharing, tracking, and reporting; and educational programming.
None of these new statements, nor any of the relevant existing policies, reference Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio document Vos Estis Lux Mundi which, since 2019, has governed the process for investigating claims of sexual abuse involving priests for the universal Church.
It didn’t take long for the new guidelines to be tested.
McGlinn
Shortly after the release of the Cantwell Report, a string of anonymously submitted accusations against Elizabeth Greenop, who joined McGlinn Hall as rector in fall of 2025, alleged serious sexual misconduct.
Allegations were made anonymously to Instagram account @shareyourstory.notredame. The account, whose first post is dated April 12, 2026, describes itself as “Sharing the stories of sexual assault, abuse, and stalking victims at the University of Notre Dame. For survivors, by survivors.”
Between June 17 and July 7, 2026, nine posted submissions described grooming tactics and obscene sexual acts.
None of the posts currently mention Greenop by name. However, the third post (numbered #35) posted on June 30, intimates Greenop’s identity by stating that the accused is the rector of McGlinn Hall. One post, made on July 3, originally included her name, but has since been redacted.
The reports were made anonymously, and cannot be confirmed to have come from Notre Dame students. The Instagram account uses a Google Form to collect stories of sexual assault. “All submissions to this form will be posted to the Share Your Story Notre Dame Instagram. We believe all victims, and thus all stories will be posted (given that they don’t violate Instagram’s terms of service). Submissions are strictly anonymous and no emails or identifying information will be collected.”
Within two weeks of the first Instagram post, the university had placed Greenop on leave pending investigation. The account administrator reported misconduct to the university with permission of the anonymous submitter of the first allegation.
In addition to Greenop’s removal, the university took measures to further remediate the situation. Ally Liedtke, who was formerly rector of Ryan Hall, has stepped in as interim rector of McGlinn Hall. Director of Residential Life Breyan Tornifolio is also supervising McGlinn Hall.
Karen Kennedy, Associate Vice President of Residential Life, spoke to hall staff members, and separately parents of incoming freshmen. She assured them, “student and staff safety is our highest priority in Residential Life” and that “the McGlinn community is in the best possible hands” with Liedtke and Tornifolio.
She also commented, “There’s not currently a finding of responsibility or wrongdoing, and we should all try to withhold judgment at this time as the university is investigating and taking this situation very seriously.”
A sophomore transfer student shared her experience of being assigned to McGlinn Hall this summer with the Rover. “When I heard I was being put in McGlinn I was really nervous.” The dorm assignments came out just 16 days after the Observer initially reported on the allegations.
She expressed frustration about the limited disclosure of information, stating, “I am disappointed by the lack of communication. I understand that the university can’t say much about the issue, but they didn’t address the issue to new residents until after Welcome Weekend. … It feels as though we’ve kind of forgotten about the potential victims.”
However, she praised the student leaders in her dorm, saying, “the ARs and RAs have been doing a good job making sure the girls feel safe and supported.”
Meanwhile, Greenop denies all claims of misconduct. On August 18, Greenop filed a defamation suit against the anonymous submitters and anonymous operator of @shareyourstory.notredame. The complaint acknowledges that she has been placed on leave, but denies any wrongdoing and reports that Greenop had ‘fled the state.’ The Complaint renounces ‘defamatory’ statements made in each of the nine posts, and implicates the account operator.
Investigations and legal proceedings are ongoing.
Caleb Vaughan is a senior from Orono, MN. He can be reached at cvaugha2@nd.edu.