Bruce Ritter
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Rev. Bruce Ritter (25 February 1927 – 7 October 1999) was a Roman Catholic priest who founded the charity Covenant House for homeless teenagers and resigned after accusations that he had sexual relations with four of the charity's residents.
Born John Ritter in Trenton, New Jersey, he was ordained in 1956 and took the name Bruce when he joined the Franciscan order. After teaching theology at Manhattan College from 1963–8, he founded Covenant House in 1968. At its height, Covenant House operated in 15 cities with a US$90,000,000 budget, spending three times what the federal government did on runaways. He called the teenagers in the Covenant House “my kids”, “nice kids”, and “gorgeous kids”.
In 1985 he served on US Attorney General Edwin Meese's Commission on Pornography.
In December 1989, he was accused by Kevin Kite, a former male prostitute and pornographic actor, of having sexual relations after meeting him in New Orleans and flying him to New York to live at Ritter's expense. Several other men came forward after Kite's allegations leading to Ritter's removal as president of Covenant House. There were also allegations of financial improprieties involving a $1 million trust fund.
No charges were filed by the district attorney or state attorney general, but an internal investigation by Kroll and Associates found evidence that he did engage in sexual activities with Kite and shelter residents. Ritter denied the allegations and resigned from both the charity and the Franciscan order in 1990.
Ritter eventually retired to the small town of Decatur, New York, where he died of cancer at the age of 72.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- “In Quiet Fields, Father Ritter Found His Exile; After Scandal, Covenant House Founder Had a Simple, Solitary Life Upstate”, New York Times, 22 October 1999
- Broken Covenant, Charles M. Sennott
