AFFIDAVIT

of

Mrs. Louise Carbonaro

Director of Religious Education at St. Ann's Church, Tobyhanna (1994-2002)

Director of RCIA at St. Ann's Church, Tobyhanna (1995-2002)

I, Louise Carbonaro, declare that the information about to be given is accurate and truthful to the best of my recollection.

In September of 1994 I was asked by Fr. John Boyle to be the Director of Religious Education because the former DRE could not do it anymore due to her flourishing business. The religious education grew under Fr. Boyle's direction until he was transferred to Our Lady of the Lake in 1998 by Bishop Timlin. Msgr. Kelly became my next pastor for one year when he left the parish and was replaced by Fr. Michael Kloton. Fr. Kloton arrived on my birthday, July 5, 1999. He heard it was my birthday and ordered me flowers and when they arrived he said that he deserved a kiss on the lips, which I did not. I thought this was strange behavior from a priest but the day passed and I didn't think about it again. Then he started calling his housekeeper, "Cutie," and she told me she was starting to feel uncomfortable around him as was I. The secretaries thought she was a nut so I didn't say anything about what had happened to me. As time went on, the housekeeper said that she thought Fr. Kloton was brushing by her and touching her and started to tell people in the parish about what Fr. Kloton was doing to her. It got back to him and he quickly called Bishop Timlin to cover himself and told him that his housekeeper was coming on to him when he was actually sexually harassing her. Bishop Timlin sent Fr. Kopacz to interrogate the housekeeper. She was not allowed to be in the same room with Fr. Kloton if she wanted to keep her job. She is a mother of 7 children and needed the income. She told me that Fr. Kloton got right up in her face and asked her if she was having sexual dreams about him and was she in love with him and then Fr. Kopacz interrogated her as if she was a criminal and she was so intimidated that she denied everything to get on with her life. She ended up quitting her job a few weeks later.

About six months later, our Music Director quit after 15 years of service and I don't know why. The new Music Director didn't have a computer to work on so Fr. Kloton loaned her one of his old ones. One day she came down stairs to the kitchen where the Financial Secretary and I were eating and asked us if Fr. Kloton was gay. I said I did not know his sexual preference and I didn't care and asked her why? She told us to come upstairs into her office, which was on the same floor with Fr. Kloton's bedroom, and look at something. She showed us 35 icons that had porn (gay men web sites, incest and masturbation). One icon had male genitalia to click on. We tried to figure why a priest would have such things on his computer, but could not figure out why. I asked her if we should report it to the bishop or someone and she said to keep it a secret because it would be our careers. We all agreed, but the Financial Secretary went to Fr. Kloton and told him what we had found. I decided to go to him and question him on why it was there. He told me that he has biker friends who sometimes send him porn as a joke in his email and he forgot to delete it. He also told me that when he was young, they kicked him out of the Allentown Diocese Seminary because his superiors found masturbation manuals that his friends sent him, which he forgot to throw out. I accepted this explanation, as I was computer illiterate at the time. I told the Director of Music and she laughed at me and said that these sites were saved onto icons and into files and were being viewed by him. She even took down the times that he was viewing them. She logged everything. Finally, Fr. Kloton started targeting her and made her job so difficult that she had to leave and told him it was because of salary. After seeing what Fr. Kloton was capable of, I decided not to go to the bishop at this time but was taking everything down. Then I saw him have a steady stream of women coming and going from his office. One woman told me she thought he was in love with her. Another stopped seeing him after he asked her if she was becoming infatuated with him. One of the women tried to commit suicide over him because she was made to feel he loved and cared for her and then he stopped seeing her for counseling when she was having the worst time with her abusive husband so she slashed her wrists. She called the Rectory and Fr. Kloton got scared and called 911 and had her admitted to the psychiatric ward of a local hospital.

Fr. Kloton was starting to target me and make my job difficult. He was giving me more secretarial duties such as answering the doors and phones and getting the mail instead of my Religious Education duties and it was difficult for me to get to these duties. He and I were arguing a lot. One day he called me into his office and said, "Louise, I know why you and I are fighting lately." I asked him why and he said it was because he thought I was becoming infatuated with him. I told him I was married for 28 years to my husband and never have I forsaken my vows. I also said that I was not. He kept telling me that he couldn't have a relationship with me because he was a priest. I told him again I did not want a relationship with him. He loosened his Roman collar and sat back on his chair and said, "Oh come on Louise, I know you never met anyone like me before."

In December of 2002 I resigned my position and went to Bishop and told him everything. My husband was present. The bishop told me he would speak to Fr. Kloton and take care of everything.

In January 2003 I wrote an anonymous letter to Chancellor Early telling him everything that went on at St. Ann's in Tobyhanna and nothing was done to Fr. Kloton. A few weeks ago I wrote Bishop Timlin again and he called me up to say he did investigate what I told him about Fr. Kloton and found out that he was kicked out of the seminary because he was immature. That is why the Diocese of Scranton took him. He said that Fr. Kopacz gave his report and that rumors about Fr. Kloton sexually harassing his housekeeper were unfounded. He said that he only had my word about the porn and I would have to give him hard proof. I feel Bishop Timlin really didn't do anything because after all these accusations by myself and the former housekeeper that he should look harder into Fr. Kloton's background. I feel he was just quieting me down and never really took me seriously.

The above testimony is true to the best of my recollection so help me God.

Given in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania on the 10^th day of July in the year of Our Lord 2003.

Signed by Louise Carbonaro

Witnessed by JoAnn Misuraca

Notary Public State of Pennsylvania