Father Edward Kryston
Diocese of Pittsburgh
Ordained: 1974
Assigned as Follows:
- 1974-1979: St. Luke (Carnegie, PA)
- 1979-1980: St. John (Unity, PA)
- 1980-1984: St Pius X (Pittsburgh, PA)
- 1984-1988: St. Martin (Pittsburgh, PA)
- 1988-1989: Our Lady of Joy (Holiday Park, PA)
- 1989-1996: Holy Trinity (Moon Run, PA)
- 1996: Leave of Absence
- 1996-1989: St. Albert the Great (Baldwin, PA)
- 1999: St. Albert the Great (Baldwin, PA)
Summary of Allegations Against Father Edward L. Kryston:
The Diocese of Pittsburgh began receiving complaints about Father Edward Kryston’s behavior toward young girls in 1984. A priest wrote a letter to Bishop Bevilacqua stating that a CCD teacher told him about an incident involving Kryston making sexual advances toward a junior high school girl whom he took to his room alone. A couple days later, the Diocese received a letter from the president of the St. Pius Parish Council, stating he had heard many complaints about Father Kryston’s and interest in young girls over the last two and a half years.
Kryston denied any wrongdoing and said that he sometimes took girls to his room to watch television, but they were always in groups. The priest was then transferred to St. Martin . A few months after, a CCD teacher from St. Pius wrote a letter to Bishop Bevilacqua expressing her concern about him, who was still coming around St. Pius and was often seen with young teenage girls there. She said she felt that the situation was being “covered up.”
In 1985 and 1986, more records were created about Kryston’s sexual behavior toward young girls. He would give them alcohol, invite them to his room late at night, and ask them sexually suggestive questions.
In 1995, multiple complaints were made by parents of girls who attended a school dance. While at the dance, Father Edward Kryston grabbed young girls’ buttocks and lifted them up. Other discoveries made concerning Kryston’s behavior include his collection of pornography under his bed, his pictures of a girl from the school in a bikini, and an incident where he invited an 11-year-old girl to come to his room alone. Kryston had even tried to get the girl in the bikini pictures to go on an overnight trip with him and share a motel room, which the girl’s parents did not allow.
Later in 1995, a nun reported that Kryston would hang around seventh- and eighth-grade girls at the school in which she taught. She also said he frequently smelled like alcohol. A month later, after denying any “sexual intent” with the young girls he had harassed at the school dance, Father Kryston was placed on administrative leave.
In January 1996, he was sent to St. Luke Institute, a notorious treatment facility for pedophile priests, for an evaluation. The staff there recommended he have absolutely no contact with minors. Kryston was later assigned to St. Albert the Great.
In 2002, Bishop Wuerl placed Father Edward Kryston on administrative leave again, and sent to St. John Vianney Manor to live, near a high school.
He was named publicly as accused in a priest profile in the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Pennsylvania, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Pittsburgh may have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.