MILWAUKEE — More than half a million Catholics call southeastern Wisconsin home. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has nearly 200 parishes in ten counties.
Like other cities, Milwaukee’s archdiocese maintains a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse.
20 years after creating that list, some are wondering why a deceased Milwaukee priest is named on alleged abuser lists in two other states, but he’s nowhere to be found on Milwaukee’s.
Watch: Survivors question why dead priest not on MKE Archdiocese's alleged abusers list
A TMJ4 Lighthouse investigation uncovered why.
Black and white photos take Mike Bielmeier back to a childhood full of horrible secrets.
"Between the ages of 11 and 12, I was sexually assaulted by three different priests,” he said. "That is a difficult thing to overcome and I couldn’t overcome it as a child."
The abuse changed Bielmeier’s life so dramatically that he worked with the Wisconsin Department of Justice to make sure abusive priests are brought into the light.
He is the only victim who took part in the state’s clergy and faith abuse initiative who was willing to share his story publicly.
"I never told anyone as a child,” Bielmeier said. “I never told my best friends. You're ashamed. You're so ashamed and as I said, you're made to feel complicit."
Bielmeier knows the importance of Catholic organizations publicly naming credibly accused priests. He says it gives survivors an opportunity to heal.
Watch: Survivors question why dead priest is on alleged abuser lists in two cities but not on MKE Archdiocese's list:
"If someone brings an allegation against a priest, I believe them,” Bielmeier said.
Dozens of archdiocese and Catholic religious orders across the country started naming restricted priests and alleged abusers on their websites two decades ago.
48 priests are on Milwaukee’s restricted list. It’s about evenly split between priests who are dead and still alive.
But one deceased Milwaukee priest with an accusation of sexual abuse on his record is not on the restricted list.
His name is Father Mark Santo.
Bielmeier and Father Santo never crossed paths, but Bielmeier believes Santo’s name should be known.
"If I were a victim of this guy and he died and no one would believe me because he's dead, that doesn't in any way justify they're ignoring the facts of the past,” he said.
The issue first came to light in a report from the Chicago Sun-Times. Robert Herguth is an investigative reporter for the Sun-Times who has studied clergy abuse, including Santo’s case, for years.
"He's accused of molesting at least one kid,” Herguth said. "The Missouri diocese that has a list got their information from the Servites, but all they know is he's credibly accused."
A death notice shows Santo was born in Milwaukee and he went to a seminary in St. Francis. After decades of serving in parishes, schools, and prisons in several different cities across the country, Santo came home to Milwaukee in 1993 to become an archdiocese priest.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese says Father Santo never served in ministry during his time in Milwaukee. The archdiocese said they aren't aware of what he did instead.
According to Herguth’s reporting and confirmed by TMJ4, Santo is on an alleged abuser list from one of his placements in Springfield, Missouri.
After Herguth’s story was published, Detroit’s archdiocese added Santo to their list.
Santo is nowhere to be found on the other lists, including Milwaukee’s.
"In this instance, the full truth has not been told and I don't understand why,” Herguth said.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese says it is committed to transparency. Archbishop Jerome Listecki declined TMJ4’s interview requests.
Instead, his chief of staff agreed to share their criteria for naming a restricted priest.
A single allegation against a priest can land them on the restricted list, but only if they're alive.
If one allegation is made after a priest is dead, the Milwaukee Archdiocese won’t investigate to determine if the accusation can be substantiated.
When asked for an explanation, the chief of staff wrote in an email, "The priest cannot be confronted with the allegation or questioned to defend himself."
Because Father Santo has one known accuser and the allegation came after his death, Milwaukee’s archdiocese doesn’t include Santo on its list.
Additionally, even if multiple allegations were to come in against a deceased priest like Father Santo, the archdiocese says there has to be a consistent pattern of behavior that demonstrates enough evidence for substantiation.
"I've studied this both locally and nationally and the Milwaukee archdiocese is on the low end of disclosure for archdioceses,” Herguth said.
Herguth says it highlights major differences in how archdioceses across the country set their rules for naming credibly accused priests — and how that leads to inconsistencies.
"The pope does not say you have to release x, y, and z on sex abuse and you have to do it in a, b, and c manner. It doesn't exist, but it could,” Herguth said.
“Imagine if you’re the victim of him,” Peter Isely said.
Like Bielmeier, Isely isn’t connected to Father Santo’s case, but he is another clergy abuse survivor.
Isely is one of the founding members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Isely believes Santo should be on Milwaukee’s list.
"If it's true, you're on the list. If it's not, you're not. OK, so that's the criteria. Period. It doesn't matter,” he said.
Because of the Milwaukee Archdiocese policy, survivors like Isely and Bielmeier are left to wonder if a priest like Father Santo is not on Milwaukee’s list, are there others?
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