The trial of a former Mount Saint Joseph wrestling coach accused of sexually abusing a minor will begin Wednesday.

A grand jury indicted Neil Adleberg, 75, on charges of second-degree rape, attempted second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor and sexual solicitation of a minor in March 2022.

Adleberg is the only person charged criminally in connection with the Maryland attorney general’s investigation into Catholic Church abuse, office spokesperson Thomas Lester said Tuesday.

Despite hundreds of pages in the office’s report detailing years of clergy abuse of children, bringing criminal cases for decades-old conduct is complicated, Maryland prosecutors told The Baltimore Sun.

Jennifer Donelan, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, said in April that Attorney General Anthony Brown is committed to prosecuting any case where the law allows, but he is unlikely to pursue additional prosecutions stemming from the report.

Adleberg’s bench trial is set to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday before Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Dennis M. Robinson.

The former coach, who worked at Mount Saint Joseph High School on Frederick Ave. in Baltimore in the 1970s and returned as assistant wrestling coach during the 2014-15 season, is accused of abusing a minor over two years in 2013 and 2014.

Authorities have said the victim was not a Mount Saint Joseph student.

Adleberg’s attorney, Joe Murtha, has denied the allegations and said former students have rallied behind the ex-coach. Adleberg served home detention for four months last year before a judge ordered his release in August.

Murtha said Tuesday that Adleberg has entered a plea of not guilty and will be proceeding with a “robust defense.” Murtha said he found it “highly unusual” that the Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting his client when the office has not sought criminal charges related to other allegations of abuse in the report.

“I find it interesting that they have confirmed years and years of abuse by various individuals and they have not sought to prosecute those individuals, despite the fact that there is no statute of limitations on those allegations of abuse,” Murtha said.

A past president of the Maryland State Wrestling Association, Adleberg created the Mount Mat Madness tournament, a premier high school wrestling tournament he ran for nearly 20 years. He also led Mount Saint Joseph’s team, the Gaels, to the National Preps Tournament championship for three years in a row in the 1970s.

The Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting Adleberg’s case, with assistant attorney generals Nancy Lee Frigo and Megan Greene joining the case this year.

Elizabeth Embry, who was special assistant to Frosh and oversaw the Catholic Church investigation, now represents a Baltimore district in the House of Delegates.

Last year, Embry said prosecutors had evidence of years of “grooming” by Adleberg and said his alleged behavior was not “a one-off.”

Murtha said in August that no one else had stepped forward to support the claims against Adleberg after he was charged.