Ohio couple in custody battle with Catholic Priests over 2-Year-Old Son

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — A bizarre custody battle is underway in Steubenville, Ohio after a couple allege that after reaching out for help with the local catholic church, the priests refused to give them their 2-year-old son back, even gaining legal custody.

The Post Gazette obtained court documents showing that the toddler is in the temporary custody of two priests at St. Peter Catholic Church.

The couple, 23-year-old Jorden Pauley and her 26-year-old husband Edgar Pauley are also parents to a one-year-old and newborn girl.

According to Post Gazette, the case began after the Pauley’s moved to the area after becoming homeless and sought assistance with the church.

Jordan Pauley tells Post Gazette that the church has torn her family apart.

A December 2022 court filing shows Father Timothy Huffman, the pastor of St. Peter, and Father Bradley Greer, chancellor of the Steubenville diocese and a vicar at St. Peter, claim that it was in the best interest of the child to stay with them.

Post Gazette reports that the unique case has drawn the attention of experts on Catholic Church tradition, who tell the news outlet that they have never seen or heard of a case like it.

Court documents show Father Huffman and Greer are alleging that the couple watered down the baby’s formula and fed him cantaloupe and chocolate. They also claim Jorden Pauley has referred to the child as a ‘little bastard’ and ‘spawn of Satan.'”

According to Post Gazette, court documents show the priests claim the child was in their care at the rectory four to five nights a week between the end of July and November 2022. They also allege they had spent $1,400 at Walmart and Walgreens on groceries and other items for the couple.

Another allegation in the complaint states that Jordan Pauley has little interaction with the child. The priests also claim that the child is “lethargic” and has poor hygiene while with his mother but is very happy and active while in their care.

According to the news outlet, two weeks after the priests filed for temporary custody, it was granted, specifying the child would live in the church rectory during the duration of the case.

The case has been ongoing for 18 months. Post Gazette reports that neither the Steubenville police nor the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services has substantiated any of the claims made in the priest’s legal filings.

In fact, Post Gazette reports a letter from the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services, which administers children’s services in the area, cleared the couple of having safety threats in their home and even lauded the couple as having “many strengths.”

According to Post Gazette, the parents say they can not afford legal counsel and have been representing themselves in the fight to get their son back. They call the actions of the priests “disgusting” and a “disgrace to the Bible.”

The Pauley’s say they were never warned about “these guys,” and looking back, they tell Post Gazette they believe they lost custody because they leaned on a community they didn’t know when they were new in town.

Post Gazette reports the couple experienced brief homelessness before obtaining housing with the Jefferson County Metro Housing Authority, a short distance from St. Peter Catholic Church.

The couple began to frequent the Friendship Room, a nonprofit that assists low-income and homeless families. A fellow parishioner introduced them to Fathers Huffman and Greer.

Jordan Pauley tells the Post Gazette that things seemed to be going well initially. She said the priests seemed nice and helpful, providing the couple with money, formula, and babysitting.

However, the Post Gazette suggests that court documents filed by Fathers Huffman and Greer paint a very different picture. Over the summer and fall of 2022, the child was frequently with the priests in the rectory, prompting the priests to reach out to Michelle Santin, Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services director, and now-retired Steubenville Police Detective Jonathan Sowers to discuss the situation.

The complaint shows a text message between Father Greer and Santin in which Greer expresses his disbelief that the couple left the child in his care so they could go swimming.

According to the Post Gazette, texts show that a few days later, a nurse that the priests enlisted to look after the boy also called child services to report the couple.

Texts also show that Father Greer expressed concerns that the Pauley’s would take the child, suggesting they would use Mr. Pauley’s work vehicle and “run.”

There are also doubts about the child’s parentage, with the Post Gazette reporting that texts questioning whether Ms. Pauley is the boy’s mother.

According to the Post Gazette, text message records show the priests reached a breaking point on Aug. 6. Father Greer texted Santin that they were totally exhausted, and there seemed to be no end in sight to the current situation. He said, “The more we help, the more they want.”

The Post Gazette said they were able to obtain text messages between Father Greer and Ms. Pauly from the court records, which showed both priests continuing to help the Pauleys by offering to buy them cigarettes on at least one occasion, inviting them to celebrate Father Huffman’s birthday, and caring for the child all within the months leading up to the filing of custody in December 2022.

Ms. Pauley said in an interview with the Post Gazette that she started noticing red flags with the priests after they started getting close to her. She claims they were only getting close to her to be able to get information to use against her with child services.

The Post Gazette says the child services probe took nearly a year to complete, but a document dated Nov. 21, 2023, closed the case, looking into the couple’s situation after finding no safety threats in the Pauley’s home.

Ms. Pauley told the Post Gazette that she realizes she wasn’t a perfect parent but doesn’t believe she deserves to lose her child. She thought she was getting a break, a babysitter, by accepting their help.

According to the Post Gazette, neither Father Greer, Father Huffman, nor anyone from the Steubenville Diocese has made any public statement on the case. Church experts told the news outlet that although they did not have expertise in this particular case outside of the court documents and details shared by Post Gazette, the diocese would benefit from being more transparent regarding the unusual situation.

Brian Clites, a Catholic studies professor at Case Western Reserve University, tells the paper that he has never heard of a priest filing for custody. He also states that he would have expected the church to help the family stay together, as it is the general practice in social services and aligns with Catholic theology.

He tells the Post Gazette that the case seems particularly unusual due to recent reforms made by the Catholic Church, and the Steubenville diocese’s own code of conduct which states no diocesan priest may allow a child to visit a rectory or priest’s residence unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Jordan Pauley tells the Post Gazette that she believes the diocese is well-connected and has used many resources to keep custody of her child.

According to the Post Gazette, Jefferson County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph Bruzzese ordered the case to be thrown out in April 2023.

Judge Bruzzese’s order stated that, as nonrelatives, the priests had no standing to file their case in the Common Pleas Court.

The Post Gazette says the attorney for the priests argued that state law allows “any person” to file a custody complaint.

However, Judge Bruzzese’s order clarified that the law only applies to the separate juvenile court, which does not have jurisdiction over child custody cases in which both parents of the child are married, which the Pauleys are.

According to the Post Gazette, the case was also not initially eligible to be taken to juvenile court because child services substantiated none of the child abuse allegations.

The Post Gazette reports that after Bruzzese ordered the case to be thrown out, the priests requested a DNA test performed to ensure that Edgar Pauley was the child’s biological father.
When DNA tests proved that Pauley was not the child’s biological father, Judge Bruzzese kicked him off the case in November and moved it to juvenile court.

The Pauley’s told the Post Gazette that they knew Edgar Pauley wasn’t the child’s biological father, but he had been there since birth, even signing the birth certificate and cutting the umbilical cord.

Their next hearing is in October, and Jordan Pauley tells the Post Gazette her priority moving forward is to become the best mother that she can in order for her son to be returned to her.

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