Notre Dame report finds school could have done more on abuse allegations

Notre Dame said an outside investigation found the university could have done more to respond to sexual misconduct allegations tied to Rev. Thomas King, C.S.C., and that its own systems failed to recognize a predatory pattern as harm was unfolding.

The review, commissioned after concerns dating back to 2018, said King sexually abused and groomed students during his years at Notre Dame, where he served as rector of Zahm Hall from 1980 to 1997. Investigators identified 15 people credibly subjected to his “weighing scheme,” in which King took male students to the Rockne Memorial Gym, told them to undress fully, and stepped them onto a scale in a locker room under the pretense of checking their health. The investigation also found that multiple people, including some who were weighed, were sexually touched or assaulted by King at Notre Dame and after he left.

The report placed the university’s failure at the center of the story. Notre Dame said it did not recognize the conduct as grooming or even as a boundary crossing when it first surfaced, in part because the weighing scheme was not understood as sexual and did not involve touching or a specific assault. That judgment, the report suggested, allowed abuse to remain hidden behind institutional hesitation and an overly narrow view of misconduct. The findings also identified instances of sexual abuse by Rev. David Porterfield, C.S.C., former rector of Sorin Hall from 1978 to 1983, widening the picture of clergy abuse inside the university’s community.

Notre Dame said it retained Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in September 2025 after the 2018 concerns came to light. In response to the findings released on May 28, the university apologized to victims and announced new measures meant to change how it handles future complaints. Those steps include a policy for reports of sex-based misconduct or violence by people in positions of trust, a joint information-sharing process with the Congregation of Holy Cross, expanded annual education on prevention and reporting, and regular reports to the Notre Dame Board of Trustees. The university also said it would provide survivor support resources.

The report added historical weight to the findings by noting that Notre Dame has confronted clergy sexual abuse within its community before. For survivors, the unresolved question is not only what King did, but why the university took so long to treat the warning signs as abuse and whether the new promises will produce faster action than the system that failed them before.