Father Mark Haight
Diocese of Albany
Ordained: 1976
Removed: 1996
Assigned as follows:
- St. Joseph’s Church (Scotia, NY)
- Albany Memorial Hospital (Albany, NY)
- Glens Falls Hospital (Glens Falls, NY)
- Spring Grove Hospital (Catonsville, MD)
- St. Ambrose Church (Baltimore, MD)
- St. Francis DeSales Church (West Albany, NY)
- Saratoga Central Catholic High School (Saratoga Springs, NY)
- St. Gabriel’s Church (Rotterdam, NY)
- St. Jude’s Church (Wynantskill, NY)
- College of Saint Rose (Albany, NY)
- St. Patrick’s (Troy, NY)
- Our Lady of Grace (Ballston Lake, NY)
- St. Gabriel’s (Rotterdam, NY)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Mark Haight:
According to media reports, Father Mark Haight had a history of allegedly sexually abusing boys in Albany, Vermont, and Baltimore, where he was a seminary student in the mid-1970s. The Diocese of Albany entered into a confidential settlement agreement with one victim, in 1989 when he was a pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Scotia. Haight was sent for treatment and then reassigned as a hospital chaplain in 1990. He was removed from his position in 1996 after the hospital learned of his history. Haight’s case marked the fourth instance that a pedophile priest was assigned to a hospital ministry, in his case at a Glens Falls hospital.
Another settlement amount that was later made public involved a payment of $997,500, given in 1997 to another victim. The man said starting in 1974, Haight abused him almost daily over several years, beginning at age 12. He would frequently first give the victim alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and pornography, and then abuse him. The Diocese of Albany removed him from ministry.
In April 2002, a 43-year-old man contacted the Archdiocese of Baltimore and said that Father Haight, molested him while on a camping trip to Assateague Island in 1974 and in Father Haight’s room at the seminary at St. Mary’s.
In October 2004, a civil suit was filed by a man in Boston claiming abuse by Haight and another priest, Father Starks. The man was fourteen and an altar boy in Starks’ church, in 1976 when the abuse began. He also claims that more abuse occurred in a hotel room in Framingham, Massachusetts, and other Boston-area locations where the priests allegedly took him on trips. He also claims he was abused when Haight offered to take him for a ride in his airplane. He said when he objected to Haight’s hand on his genitals, he would repeatedly cut the engine and pretended the plane was falling.
In January 2018, a suit was filed in Vermont by a man alleging Haight sexually abused him there as a boy. It happened on multiple occasions, over the course of many years, starting in 2014. The alleged abuse, according to the suit, caused the plaintiff “to become permanently injured and suffered pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, loss of earnings, medical and counseling expenses.”
In November 2018, Haight’s name first appeared publicly on the Diocese of Albany’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors. It noted multiple allegations.
In March 2023, a victim of Mark Haight settled his lawsuit with the Diocese of Albany for $750,000. Following the settlement, the victim told the media that the Diocese threatened to file bankruptcy if the case went to trial. He had met Haight in 1988 at Corpus Christi church. He also traveled to Haight’s cabin and rode in Haight’s plane.
In June 2023, Mark Haight was accused of sexual abuse in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that Haight sexually abused a 14 year old boy in 1972. It is alleged that Haight took the boy on a camping trip to Assateague Island where he molested him in the tent in front of another seminarian. The boy had been working as a night receptionist at St. Mary’s seminary in Baltimore. The abuse the boy suffered as a child at the hands of Haight led him to fatally overdosing at age 62 in August 2022. The Baltimore Archdiocese lists Haight as being credibly accused of sexual abuse.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Albany. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Albany, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Albany now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an email to [email protected] to discuss your options today.