Status: Accused
Died: 10/20/2000
Diocese: Archdiocese of Baltimore MD
Deacon Joseph Firlie, who was a long-time probation officer for the MD Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) and made permanent deacon in the mid-1970s, was publicly accused in the Maryland Attorney General’s report released on April 5, 2023. He was assigned to St. Peter and Paul School in Cumberland, MD, during the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1991, an allegation was reported to Bishop Murphy that Deacon Joseph Firlie had made sexual advances toward a 17-year-old boy at DJS. A police detective saw Firlie in an area of Cumberland known for men soliciting young men. Firlie admitted to “his problems” and was sent to the Johns Hopkins Sex Clinic. He passed away in October 2000.
In 2010, a man reported to the Archdiocese that he had been sexually abused by Firlie at St. Peter and Paul Catholic School between ages 10-14 during 1979-1983.