A Presque Isle Circuit County court in Northern Michigan has upheld two personal protection orders against James Grein following separate petitions filed by a recent high school graduate and her father.
Both orders were initially issued ex parte, meaning Grein, who is 68, did not have an opportunity to contest the allegations before the orders were entered. Grein had requested a hearing to dispute the charges, which was granted and held on Wednesday, September 23. The judge sided against him at the conclusion of the hearing.
Grein is most widely known for having been repeatedly abused starting when he was 11-years-old by American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who died in April 2025. McCarrick had risen to the top of the American Church over the course of several decades under John Paul II and Benedict XVI, eventually becoming the Archbishop of Washington D.C. in 2001. He is believed to have played an influential role in elevating now-retired Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Cardinal Blasé Cupich, and other liberal clergy to prominent positions in the Church in the United States.
McCarrick was eventually defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 following a Vatican investigation after former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò publicly stated in August 2018 that Francis knew of McCarrick’s predatory behavior and covered it up. Grein reached a six-figure settlement with the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, of which McCarrick previously served as the ordinary, in early 2026.
Integrity Magazine has obtained the woman’s personal protection order against Grein. In it, she sates that she became acquainted with him through a summer part-time job assisting him with daily living activities while he was in poor health and residing in the Rogers City area, which is home to less than 3,000 Michiganians and located on the shore of Lake Huron. The woman states that their relationship was limited to employment and that they never had a dating or romantic relationship.
The filing alleges that Grein nevertheless began sending repeated text messages to her and describing what he viewed as a spiritual and permanent relationship between them. “Hi beautiful girl … Good Night. I love you. — James,” one message quoted in the petition reads.
In other messages, Grein told the girl, who graduated in June, that he loves her, that he wants “a future” with her, and that their “connection” is “divine,” despite their nearly 50-year age difference, which Grein acknowledged but still told her, “we are already married for God’s sake.”
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The woman states in the petition that she never told Grein they were married and did not want a romantic relationship with him. “Text me one more time and I will have you charged with stalking and harassment,” she said in her last message to him.
Grein grew in popularity after he came forward as one of McCarrick’s victims. Soon after, he spoke with LifeSiteNews, EWTN, Taylor Marshall, Joe McClane, The Washington Post, the New York Times and many other outlets and influencers while making public appearances. “It has taken too long for victims to come forward,” he said at a “Silence Stops Now” rally held outside the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fall General Assembly in Baltimore in 2018. “Our bishops must know that the jig is up,”
According to the petition, Grein’s lengthy messages continued despite the young woman’s rebuttals and warnings from her father. “Please respect our wishes to prevent further action from being taken,” the father texted Grein while informing him that he had spoken with the police, the prosecutor’s office, and a judge.
The court filing also includes a transcript of messages from a separate telephone number which identified the sender as “Dave” but who later identified themselves as “James,” which is Grein’s first name. Other messages contained references to God, “divine creatures” and what Grein called “the trionic laws.”
The young woman and her father filed separate petitions seeking personal protection orders against Grein in Presque Isle County. Probate judge Kimberly Gildner granted both.
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During the September 23 hearing, Grein questioned whether he had sent all the messages attributed to him. He also recalled the past abuse he suffered from McCarrick, at one time attempting to submit news articles on himself, which were dismissed as irrelevant. When asked to identify the particular text messages he disputed, he declined to identify specific messages. Grein also claimed that the young woman had become “low energy” in July. He then began making lewd remarks, prompting Gildner to call a recess. After hearing testimony from Grein, the young woman, and her father, and after considering the evidence, the court left both protection orders in place and ordered Grein to pay the petitioners’ attorney fees, which totaled approximately $3,000.
Integrity Magazine will continue reporting on the cases as additional court proceedings occur.
