KSHB 41 News anchor/I-Team reporter Sarah Plake was born and raised in Kansas City and is looking into issues affecting the community. Send Sarah an email.
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It has been nine months since Phil Baniewicz was fired from Bishop Miege High School after allegations of inappropriate behavior with minors and concerns regarding his leadership abilities arose.
A couple of months prior, he had been put on leave and restricted from all ministry within the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
This happened amid concerns about a 2005 lawsuit accusing Baniewicz of sexually abusing a teen at a church in Arizona in the 1980s, which settled before going to trial.
KSHB 41's Sarah Plake first reported on his controversial hiring in 2023 and has reported every update since.
Bishop Miege now has a new president, Mike Riley, who was hired in February after a nationwide search.
While Baniewicz isn’t facing any criminal charges, he is still facing an investigation within the Catholic Church, set to end “soon,” according to an Archdiocese spokesperson.
The investigation falls under Church law, including something called Vos estis lux mundi, a relatively new mandate from the late Pope Francis that dictates how the Church should investigate sexual abuse allegations against clergy and lay people with leadership roles.
"Vos estis, to my understanding, is like a tardy mark on your Catholic report card," former student Taylor Kelsey said. "You have to take that with you. That doesn't mean you can't get another job at another diocese, but you do still have to explain it."
Kelsey reached out to KSHB 41 News with complaints about Baniewicz from when she was a student at Maur Hill-Mount Academy in Atchison, Kansas, 10 years ago. Baniewicz was president at MH-MA before going to Bishop Miege.
"I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I needed to do something," Kelsey said at the time.
Kelsey's complaints led to the Archdiocese launching the Vos estis investigation.
She wasn’t the only one who came forward. Kelsey and another former student, Parker Valdez, told KSHB 41 in previous reports about a culture of blurred boundaries at Maur Hill that included Baniewicz interrogating them with inappropriate questions about sex in one-on-one, closed-door meetings.
"I was upset, I was crying," Valdez told us in June 2025. "I remember I left his office and had to compose myself to go find my friends in the hallway."
Both women said those interactions impacted them for years.
After Baniewicz was hired at Bishop Miege in 2023, Valdez and Kelsey sent complaints to the school, the Archdiocese and Maur Hill.
"I've given my recount of events to the Archdiocese multiple times, but this is the one that's really going to be put down and go toward the investigation ," Valdez said.
Both women said the Archdiocese Office for Protection and Care arranged for them to talk about their experiences in separate forensic interviews at the Child Protection Center (CPC). It is a child abuse advocacy agency in Kansas City that can serve as a neutral setting for investigators.
"It was healing to know that that was finally able to be taken into consideration," Valdez said.
Kelsey agrees.
"I've been talking about this for years, but I’m finally telling the right people," Kelsey said.
CPC's President and CEO Liza Mizell told us they partnered with the Archdiocese "to provide neutral, evidence-based forensic interviews and advocacy services for individuals involved in active reviews."
The Archdiocese spokesperson, Marissa Easter, said they have been "in contact" with CPC but wouldn't go into detail.
"In order to protect the privacy of all who are involved, we have no further comment. A statement will be issued when the investigation concludes," Easter said.
KSHB 41 learned that a former FBI special agent is helping the Archdiocese with the investigation. Kelsey and Valdez said he was at CPC, listening from a different room as they gave their statements.
In Vos estis, after the investigation is over, the Archbishop — in this case, Archbishop Shawn McKnight — decides on the outcome and sends everything to the Vatican, where a final decision is made.
What exactly the Archdiocese is deciding is unclear. The Archdiocese's communications office will not say what potential ramifications Baniewicz is facing.
For instance, if he can’t work for this Archdiocese, could he go somewhere else?
"I asked point-blank questions as far as what policies were being changed," Valdez said. "They made sure to emphasize that it was a temporary, precautionary safety plan, and they could not tell me any specifics, even though that directly impacts victims such as myself."
A statement last August said that Baniewicz’s ban from all ministry within the Archdiocese will remain, pending the results of the investigation.
"Yes, while he may not have a career in ministry now, who's to stop him in the future?" Kelsey said.
We still don’t know the totality of the investigation, such as how many people Baniewicz was allegedly inappropriate with or the context.
KSHB 41 has asked the Archdiocese multiple times for information and clarification over the nearly three years we have reported on this story. In responding, the Archdiocese is selective on which questions it will answer.
Last year, Bishop Miege parents told KSHB 41 they complained about Baniewicz’s behavior after he was hired, but it is unclear if that is part of the investigation too.
We know he is currently on a “safety plan,” which the Archdiocese will not make public.
According to a previous statement, “Baniewicz agrees not to contact anyone known to have made an accusation of abuse or misconduct against him, or who may be a known witness to him.”
When he was fired, people in the community said it was a step in the right direction.
"I want to see safer schools, safer communities," Kelsey said. "Any risk is too big a risk."
Kelsey and Valdez said they want to see accountability and change.
"There (are) stereotypes for a reason," Valdez said. "It seems that these individuals who choose to victimize youth are not shut down. It seems as though they're elevated."
It is also unclear if Baniewicz is participating in the investigation.
KSHB 41 reached out to Baniewicz for comment, but we have not heard back at the time of publication.
We will continue to stay on top of this story and let you know the results of the investigation.
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