(LifeSiteNews) — Melissa Enfield, a whistleblower who had accused the Archdiocese of Detroit of failing to investigate sexually explicit content found on two parish computers at St. Joseph Church in South Lyon, has named the priest who had access to one of the computers and accused the parish pastor of covering up these allegations, violating the seal of confession, and attempting an illicit exorcism.
In an email to LifeSiteNews, Enfield, who along with her husband Justin had accused the Archdiocese of Detroit of failing to investigate pornographic material and stored credentials for “hookup” websites found on two parish computers in a Substack post last week, told LifeSite that Father Greg Deters was the priest who had access to one of these devices, using it as “his office.”
She also accused Father Stan Tokarski, who remains the pastor of St. Joseph’s, of not only helping to cover up the incident but also of violating the seal of confession in a conversation with Justin, as well as attempting to coerce him into assisting with an illicit exorcism, then firing him in retaliation for reporting the accusations to the archdiocese.
St. Joseph’s associate pastor regularly used computer with pornographic content
Enfield first recalled how her husband Justin had found the explicit content on two computers when he started working as the parish youth minister and web coordinator.
The first computer, located in the youth ministry room, included a nude selfie of a woman with a sexually explicit text message. When he showed the image to the parish manager, Linda Williams, she allegedly identified the woman as a former parish employee who was let go after “marrying” another woman.
“The fact that she was identified by parish admin, the image was found on the youth ministry computer, and no one cared to do or report anything was gravely concerning to me as a parent,” Melissa recalled to LifeSite.
Melissa noted that Justin had also found immoral images that had been saved going back several months on the computer assigned to him that had previously been used by Fr. Deters.
“The usernames and passwords saved on this computer all seemed to be related to Fr. Greg Deters, a former associate pastor who left the parish the same month that Justin started (August 2019),” she said. “Parish admin told Justin that the computer was previously assigned to Fr. Greg and that it was regarded as ‘his office.'”
Enfield noted that after this discovery, she had spoken to Fr. Deters over the phone. During their conversation, he denied that he was responsible for any of the content found, claiming that his office and computer were kept unlocked, so anyone could have accessed it and saved the explicit content.
LifeSiteNews attempted to contact Fr. Deters through the Archdiocese of Detroit but did not receive a response by publication time.
Pastor accused of violating seal of confession and illicit exorcism
In their March 31 open letter, the Enfields stressed that they had immediately reported everything to the proper channels at both the parish, including Fr. Tokarski, but they had failed to investigate the matter or hold anyone accountable.
“The response was not to investigate. Instead, we were met with inaction, minimization, and statements that suggested concern about institutional liability rather than safeguarding or accountability,” they wrote.
Melissa highlighted to LifeSite how, while repeatedly pressing Fr. Stan, Linda Williams, and the entire parish administration to report what had been found on these computers to the archdiocese or a third-party reporting service, the priest had also allegedly violated the seal of confession during a conversation with Justin and allegedly revealed more disturbing information about Fr. Deters without prompting.
“Justin also witnessed Fr. Tokarski breaking the seal of confession by relating the following story to Justin: A woman (not named) came to Fr. Tokarski in confession; during this confession, she complained about a previous confession she experienced with Fr. Deters,” Melissa said.
“(The woman) said that Fr. Deters had made her feel uncomfortable by asking her multiple questions regarding her sexual history, which was unrelated to anything she was confessing. Fr. Tokarski related this to Justin without prompting and listed this among several other ‘character complaints’ against Fr. Deters that were being shared by both Tokarski and Linda Williams,” she added.
Melissa also claimed that about a year later, while Justin was still working for the parish, Fr. Tokarski attempted to coerce him into assisting with what the couple believed was an illicit exorcism on a child. The Enfields reported all of these allegations to the Archdiocese of Detroit and asked for then-Archbishop Allen Vigneron’s direct involvement.
“We knew, given the sacramental irregularities, the breaking of the seal of confession, the illicit exorcism, and serious ethical judgment concerns that Fr. Tokarski was exhibiting, that someone in a position of authority needed to properly scrutinize his ministry and very likely remove him from the parish if not active ministry entirely,” Melissa told LifeSite.
The Archdiocese of Detroit did not respond to LifeSiteNews’ multiple requests for comment by publication time or provide LifeSite with contact information for the now-retired Fr. Deters. When reached for comment on the allegations made against him by email, Father Tokarski first referred LifeSite to the archdiocese. However, he also sent a follow-up message criticizing our reporting.
“Seriously, and you call it journalism? I wish I could say more, but I have to let the archdiocese handle it; truth will set you free, and you are far from it … Fr. Stan,” the priest wrote.
Archdiocese’s inadequate investigation
After the Enfields reported everything to the archdiocese in 2020, they continued to cooperate by providing documentation and identifying witnesses. However, despite the archbishop’s delegate for clergy misconduct, Msgr. Michael Bugarin, confirming receipt of their complaint and promising to follow up, they emphasized in their open letter to current Archbishop Edward Weisenburger that no effort was made to collect evidence for over a year despite repeated requests to multiple departments.
The couple even alleged that the archdiocese’s human resources (HR) department responded by advising them to delete potential evidence and later found that all the parish computers’ contents had been scrubbed.
“We were advised by Archdiocesan HR to delete potentially evidentiary material from parish computers- guidance that directly conflicted with any reasonable expectation of evidence preservation,” the Enfields wrote.
Melissa emphasized to LifeSite that after several rounds of reporting the allegations to the archdiocese, they were only told that their complaints were taken seriously, but “there was not enough supporting evidence to warrant disciplinary action.”
Indeed, both Archbishop Vigneron and Msgr. Bugarin has previously been accused of covering up allegations that a homosexual archdiocesan employee had sexually harassed and “groomed” a young man while removing Father Michael Shy from his parish, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth, for reporting these allegations.
Archbishop Weisenburger, like his predecessor, has also been accused of covering up clerical abuse for decades while serving as the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, allegedly ordering the mass deletion of emails and records about abuse allegations and even enabling a defamation lawsuit against an abuse survivor.
READ: Detroit’s Archbishop Weisenburger covered up clerical sex abuse for decades: report
In their open letter, the Enfields, citing Weisenburger’s March 11 statement on rebuilding trust within the archdiocese, especially regarding clerical abuse, called on the archbishop to review the previous investigation because the internal process had failed and to heed his own calls for transparency and accountability.
Weisenburger’s first year as archbishop of Detroit has also been marked by several controversies. Within weeks of being installed as archbishop, Weisenburger enacted a sweeping prohibition of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in parish churches – allowing it only in select non‑parochial settings. The archbishop also dismissed three senior orthodox professors from Sacred Heart Seminary: Dr. Ralph Martin, Dr. Eduardo Echeverria, and Dr. Edward Peters.
Fired for whistleblowing
Finally, Melissa claimed that in retaliation for reporting these allegations, Justin faced a “toxic and hostile” work environment in which he regularly worked 70 or more hours a week and faced reprimands for concerns that didn’t match his job expectations. His access to archdiocesan emails and files was soon cut off, and his employment was put “on hold” before he was ultimately terminated.
READ: Cardinal McElroy asks Vatican to laicize whistleblower priest claiming DC sex abuse cover-up
Melissa further alleged that when the Enfields attempted to pursue a resolution with both the parish council and the archdiocese, the parish administration allegedly attempted to destroy Justin’s reputation. She added that these events have taken a large toll on their family and on other parish employees who are too afraid to report any complaints to the archdiocese.
“When we continued to try to pursue resolution with the archdiocese and through the parish council, the parish administration further attempted to destroy Justin’s reputation within the community by claiming that he was unsafe, and that Justin himself was responsible for the illicit exorcism,” she said. “All of this together accumulated in enough damage to diagnose Justin with complex PTSD, and he is now very likely permanently disabled.”
“The consequences for our family have been disastrous, and I do not say that lightly.While I don’t know of any other whistleblowers that faced consequences like ours, I do know of multiple staff, former staff, and volunteers who said they believed us and gave their own private complaints to me or to Justin,” she added. “And the vast majority of them were discouraged from reporting these things to the AOD (Archdiocese of Detroit) because they didn’t believe they would be taken seriously, or because they feared retaliation or social consequences within the parish itself.”
Melissa underscored that while she believes there may be a conspiracy of abusive clergy protecting each other, the archdiocese can ultimately get away with sweeping these allegations under the rug because they know they can.
“(I)t is fairly obvious that the Archdiocese of Detroit and many others hold certain standards ‘on paper’ and do very different things in practice. Their motives are questionable at best,” she said.
“More than anything, I think the AOD runs their investigations this way because they can. Most laypeople are trained to give the benefit of the doubt and believe they have no authority or ability to demand a better standard,” she added.
Contact information for respectful communication:
Archbishop Edward Weisenburger’s office
Main office phone number: 313-237-5816
Fr. Stan Tokarski
Phone: 248-446-8700 x106