Clergy abuse within Massachusetts Dioceses, including widespread sexual abuse, is deeply concerning but nothing new. Various clergy members within the Catholic Church have long since been accused of sexual abuse, whether it’s of an adult or a child.

The importance of knowing how to identify and report these cases is vital to help survivors get the justice they deserve and hold Roman Catholic priests and other Catholic church officials, such as Catholic bishops, accountable. Injury Lawyer Team is your trusted Massachusetts clergy abuse law firm.

Massachusetts Catholic Diocese Priest Sex Abuse List

Archdiocese of Boston MA

John H. Acres

• Sued
  

Civil lawsuits alleged that Acres sexually abused students while serving at Boston College High School during the late 1980s. The claims emerged years after the alleged misconduct occurred. Acres left the religious order in 1995, ending his formal clerical affiliation. The allegations were addressed through civil litigation rather than criminal prosecution.

Joseph Angeli

• Accused
  

A priest of the Diocese of Tacna, Peru, Angeli spent twenty-seven years ministering in South America before being assigned in Boston in 1959. He was transferred to the Archdiocese of San Antonio in 1960 and later to the Diocese of Las Cruces in 1982. He died on May 4, 1993. Allegations of abuse surfaced posthumously during later reviews.

John T. Atwater

• Accused
  

Atwater was accused in 1993 of abusing a fourteen-year-old boy and was sent for treatment, where evaluators concluded he had no sexual conflicts. Separately, another man reported being abused by Atwater at age twelve around 1969. The allegations spanned multiple decades and were handled administratively within the archdiocese.

Charles E. Aubut

• Accused
  

Aubut faced allegations of sexual abuse involving an unspecified date and location. He also served as the supervisor of Paul Desilets, a priest later deemed credibly accused. Aubut died before a canonical investigation could be completed, leaving the allegations unresolved through formal church judicial processes.

Leonard Bacigalupo

• Accused
  

Bacigalupo was accused of abuse at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in East Boston during 1969 or 1970. He died on October 10, 1994. As a member of a religious order, he was omitted from the Archdiocese of Boston’s 2011 database, though allegations were documented in earlier reporting.

Eugene Bailot

• Sued
  

Bailot was among sixteen priests named for the first time in multiple sexual abuse lawsuits filed in Boston in January 2003. He had retired from ministry in 1975 and died in 1983. The lawsuits addressed alleged misconduct occurring years before his retirement and death.

Gary E. Balcom

• Accused
  

Balcom was accused of sexually abusing an altar boy during the 1970s. He later admitted to molesting eight or nine children. Following these admissions, he was placed on sick leave, effectively removing him from active ministry within the Archdiocese of Boston.

Pasquale J. Barletta

• Settled
  

Barletta was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of fourteen and sixteen from 1963 to 1965. After 1971, he no longer appeared in the Official Catholic Directory. The allegations were resolved through settlement, concluding civil claims related to the reported abuse.

Frederick L. Barr

• Unsubstantiated
  

Barr was placed on leave in 2009 from St. Patrick’s Parish in Watertown following allegations of sexual abuse. As of August 2015, he remained on administrative leave. The archdiocese classified the allegations as unsubstantiated following its internal review process.

Robert E. Barrett

• Settled
  

Barrett was accused of molestation during a camping trip in the 1960s and of abusing a fifteen-year-old youth over nearly two years from 1967 to 1968. A civil settlement for thirty thousand dollars was reached in 1994. He was placed on permanent disability in 1995.

Gerard D. Barry

• Accused
  

Barry was publicly named as accused by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian on May 7, 2019. The allegations concerned misconduct occurring during his period of ministry within the Archdiocese of Boston. Barry died on September 4, 2010, prior to the public disclosure of the claims.

Richard J. Barry

• Settled
  

Allegations stated that Barry raped and assaulted a youth at St. William’s Parish in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and abused a fourteen-year-old boy in 1981 during a camping trip in New Hampshire. He was included in a 2003 New Hampshire Attorney General’s report. The claims were resolved through settlement.

Settimo Basso

• Settled
  

Arriving in the United States from Italy in 1947, Basso served in the Archdiocese of Boston for twenty-three years before transfers to Rhode Island and later Canada. He eventually returned to Italy, where he died in 1999. Allegations of abuse led to civil settlement addressing his period of ministry.

Sydney H. Bayers

• Accused
  

In 1994, three sisters reported that Bayers sexually abused them during childhood. In 1996, a man separately reported sexual and physical abuse by Bayers. The allegations involved multiple victims across different time periods and were handled administratively within the Archdiocese of Boston.

Robert P. Beale

• Accused
  

Following credible allegations, Beale was removed as director of Our Lady’s Hall, a rehabilitation center for priests accused of molesting children. His removal followed concerns related to his own conduct. Beale died in 2019, and the allegations were addressed through internal church actions rather than criminal proceedings.

Leon F. Beauvais

• Sued
  

Beauvais was identified through litigation as one of sixteen priests alleged to have sexually abused minors. The claims emerged through civil lawsuits rather than criminal cases and were part of broader legal actions addressing historical abuse within the Archdiocese of Boston.

George C. Berthold

• Sued
  

A lawsuit filed in 2000 alleged that Berthold molested a boy in 1972. Earlier, in 1995, he was accused of making improper advances toward a freshman seminarian. He was terminated from his position in 1997, and the allegations proceeded through civil litigation channels.

Joseph E. Birmingham

• Settled
  

Birmingham was accused of abusing more than fifty boys and one girl, with misconduct reportedly beginning during his seminary years. He died in 1989. His name was later included on the Archdiocese of Boston’s public list in 2011. Civil claims related to the allegations were resolved through settlement.

John Bocciarelli

• Accused
  

In 1997, the Archdiocese received a report alleging that Bocciarelli performed oral sex on a nine- or ten-year-old boy during the late 1960s. The same complainant also alleged abuse by another priest. The allegation resulted in administrative review within the archdiocese.

Paul J. Bolduc

• Accused
  

Bolduc was accused of sexually abusing a minor around 1961. In July 2003, the Archdiocese’s Review Board cleared him of the allegation. He was subsequently permitted to return to public ministry without restrictions, concluding the matter through internal review rather than litigation.

Barry F. Bossa

• Convicted
  

Bossa pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual abuse of a twelve-year-old boy stemming from conduct in 1974. Two victims later filed civil suits in Boston in 2002. Following the criminal case, his ministerial privileges were withdrawn by the Archdiocese of New York, and he was transferred to Rome, ending his active service in the United States.

Clarence R. Boucher

• Accused
  

A woman provided public testimony stating that Boucher touched her inappropriately when she was thirteen years old. No canonical determination was reached because Boucher died before a church investigation could be completed. The allegation surfaced posthumously and was documented through survivor testimony rather than adjudication.

Raymond A. Boulanger

• Accused
  

Boulanger’s personnel file was released publicly in December 2002 following allegations of sexual abuse. He denied any misconduct throughout his life. Boulanger died on February 12, 2010. The allegations were disclosed through archival release rather than criminal or canonical proceedings.

Xavier Leonard Boulanger

• Settled
  

A man in his sixties filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Brother Leonard Xavier and three other Marist brothers sexually abused him as a boy at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The claims were resolved through settlement, concluding litigation related to abuse during the plaintiff’s school years.

Real B. Bourque

• Accused
  

After allegations surfaced in 1981, Bourque was reassigned by Cardinal Medeiros and continued in ministry for years. In the 1990s, he admitted to abusing teenagers. He later worked for EWTN for twelve years, appearing on television and in youth ministry roles despite earlier allegations.

James E. Braley

• Settled
  

Following a recent allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, Braley was removed as pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth. He was placed on the Archdiocese of Boston’s list of accused clerics. The matter was addressed through settlement rather than criminal prosecution.

Brendan Brennan

• Sued
  

Brennan was accused of sexually abusing a sixteen-year-old boy in 1980 while serving as a teacher and head athletic trainer at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The allegation proceeded through civil litigation, addressing misconduct tied to his educational and athletic supervisory roles.

Philip Calixtus Breton

• Settled
  

Also known as Philip or Philippe Breton, he was accused of abusing altar boys in both the Archdiocese of Boston and the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire. Breton died before a canonical investigation could be completed. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement rather than ecclesiastical adjudication.

Andrew Brizzolara

• Settled
  

Brizzolara resigned from his parish assignment in New Haven, Connecticut, following allegations of sexual abuse. He was ordered to reside with members of his religious order in New York State. The matter concluded through settlement and administrative restrictions on his ministry.

Brother John

• Settled
  

A civil lawsuit filed against the religious order alleged that Brother John and Father Alfred Murphy abused a youth between 1966 and 1968 at St. Mary Parish. The claim was resolved through a one-hundred-thousand-dollar settlement in October 2011, concluding litigation related to the alleged abuse.

Brother Albert

• Sued
  

Brother Albert was named in a civil lawsuit filed in 2005 alleging that he sexually abused one man. The claim proceeded through civil court rather than criminal prosecution and was documented through survivor litigation.

Anthony L. Buchette

• Settled
  

Buchette retired from ministry in 1997 after allegations that he molested two teenage brothers in the late 1970s. He was later laicized in 2005. The claims were addressed through settlement, concluding civil actions related to the reported abuse.

William M. Brown

• Accused
  

On September 19, 2023, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary placed Brown on leave from his role as Executive Director following an allegation of sexual abuse. Brown denied the allegation. The action removed him from active leadership pending further review by the religious order.

Brother Regis

• Sued
  

A man filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Brother Regis, also known as Raymond Richard, sexually abused him for several months during the 1950s at Sacred Heart Boarding School. The claim proceeded through civil litigation addressing abuse during the plaintiff’s childhood education.

Lawrence Buckley

• Settled
  

Buckley served in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before working in the Archdiocese of Boston for more than thirty years. He was accused of sexually abusing an altar boy over a four-year period. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement.

Myron F. Bullock

• Settled
  

Bullock was included on a list of accused priests and religious published by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. He died on April 17, 2007. The allegations were addressed through settlement prior to his death.

Richard A. Buntel

• Settled
  

Buntel was accused of sexually abusing a boy between 1979 and 1985 and a homeless man aged twenty-one. He admitted to drug use and claimed sexual activity occurred only during 1984 and 1985. The allegations were resolved through settlement without criminal prosecution.

Robert Burgess

• Settled
  

In 2002, a plaintiff’s attorney notified the Boston District Attorney that his client had been abused in 1970 by Burgess and another Salesian brother. The resulting lawsuit was settled. Burgess was later omitted from the Archdiocese of Boston’s 2011 database.

Richard J. Butler

• Settled
  

Butler was identified by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian among clerics involved in civil claims that resulted in settlements or arbitration awards. The allegations included sexual abuse of a child in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The matter concluded through civil resolution.

William L. Butler

• Accused
  

Butler was accused of molesting a thirteen-year-old boy in 1966 while in Canada. He was suspended by Cardinal Law and remained on administrative leave as of October 2008. The allegation did not proceed to criminal conviction but resulted in long-term ministerial suspension.

Joseph F. Byrne

• Settled
  

Byrne received probation in 2005 for theft of parish funds. He was removed from ministry in 2012 following allegations of child sexual abuse. After review, the allegation was deemed unsubstantiated, and he was reinstated in 2013. Related matters were resolved administratively.

George J. Callaghan

• Settled
  

Personnel files released in December 2002 detailed accusations that Callaghan sexually harassed a twenty-two-year-old male parish employee in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and sexually abused a seventeen-year-old boy in a rectory bedroom. The claims were addressed through settlement rather than criminal prosecution.

Alan E. Caparella

• Settled
  

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced a settlement on behalf of an individual who alleged sexual abuse by Caparella. The resolution concluded civil claims connected to misconduct during Caparella’s period of ministry in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Michael John Carew

• Accused
  

Carew served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana, before transferring to Boston in 1957. In 2002, he was publicly accused of sexually abusing two girls during the early 1960s. The allegations emerged decades after the alleged conduct.

John P. Carroll

• Unsubstantiated
  

Carroll was removed from his Boston assignment in 1963 following a substantiated allegation of sexual misconduct involving an adult woman. Separately, he was accused of raping a boy in the early 1960s at St. Michael’s in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. He denied the allegation involving the minor.

Walter E. Casey

• Accused
  

Casey was publicly named as accused by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian on May 7, 2019. He died on February 21, 2008. The disclosure occurred posthumously through public reporting of clergy linked to abuse allegations.

Frederick J. Cartier Jr.

• Accused
  

Cartier was accused of repeatedly molesting a teenage boy at St. Barbara’s rectory in Woburn and during overnight camping trips to New Hampshire around 1970. He left clerical life in 1979 and later worked as a dog groomer, ending his involvement in ministry.

Guido Caverzan

• Sued
  

Caverzan was accused of sexually abusing three boys during the 1970s and 1980s and of abusing a boy in the Archdiocese of New York in 2004. He died in 1994. The allegations were addressed through civil litigation after his death.

John C. Chaisson

• Unsubstantiated
  

Allegations against Chaisson first surfaced in 1974. Archbishop O’Malley later placed him on leave pending a renewed investigation. The canonical process either found the allegations unsubstantiated or resulted in acquittal, allowing the matter to conclude without disciplinary action.

Edmund P. Charest

• Settled
  

Charest was accused of repeatedly molesting a fifteen-year-old boy around 1971. He was placed on indefinite leave by Archbishop O’Malley and later dismissed from ministry in 2015. The allegations were resolved through settlement, concluding civil claims.

Joseph K. Coleman

• Settled
  

Coleman admitted to molesting two boys at St. Angela’s Parish in Mattapan during the early 1980s. He received treatment at the Institute for Living and later worked at two hospitals. He was laicized in 2005, ending his clerical status following settlement of claims.

Jeremiah J. Collins

• Sued
  

Collins was named as an abuser in a civil lawsuit filed in 2002. He was not listed as an abuser in a February 2003 report issued by the New Hampshire Attorney General. The allegations proceeded through civil litigation rather than criminal prosecution.

John Kevin Connell

• Settled
  

Connell was accused of abusing a twelve-year-old boy in 1975 or 1976. He was removed as chaplain by the Archdiocese in the mid-1990s and retired in 2001. A lawsuit naming him was settled in November 2021 for a high five-figure amount.

James E. Connelly

• Settled
  

Connelly was listed as an accused priest by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian. No formal determination of guilt was reached through canonical or criminal proceedings. The associated civil matters were resolved through settlement.

Denis A. Conte

• Settled
  

Conte was removed from active ministry in 1994 following a demand letter alleging sexual abuse of a boy aged eleven or twelve. He settled the civil claim in 1995 for one hundred fifty thousand dollars, concluding legal action related to the allegation.

Robert Cornigans

• Accused
  

Cornigans was publicly named as credibly accused by the Jesuits Northeast Province on January 15, 2019. The designation referenced a report received in 2003 alleging abuse in 1976. He was teaching at Boston College High School at the time of the alleged misconduct.

John M. Cotter

• Settled
  

Cotter was first accused of sexually abusing a boy between 1968 and 1975. Numerous additional victims later came forward. Between 1995 and 1998, seven claims were settled for five hundred seventy-five thousand dollars, and four additional claims were resolved for three hundred sixty-one thousand dollars.

Richard T. Coughlin

• Settled
  

Coughlin transferred from Boston to Orange in 1965, where he founded the All American Boys Chorus. He was accused of abusing several boys who were choir members between 1970 and 1983. He was laicized in 2020 following resolution of the allegations through settlement.

Edmund W. Croke

• Sued
  

Croke was accused of sexually abusing at least one child. The allegation did not result in a formal determination of guilt through criminal or canonical processes. The matter proceeded through civil litigation addressing claims of abuse during his period of ministry.

Gerard E. Creighton

• Settled
  

A 1973 internal memo noted that Creighton had been transferred seventeen times over twenty-two years and described him as ill. In 1998, a woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Creighton sexually abused her when she was seventeen years old. The claim was resolved through settlement rather than criminal prosecution.

William J. Cullen

• Accused
  

Cullen was publicly accused in 2016 by the Jesuits Northeast Province of sexually abusing a minor. He had already been removed from ministry in 2005. The allegation concerned conduct during his Jesuit service and was addressed administratively rather than through criminal proceedings.

Joseph I. Crowley Jr.

• Convicted
  

A diocesan priest, Crowley was arrested and convicted of raping and indecently assaulting a child. He received three consecutive sentences of two and one-half years in prison, followed by ten years of probation. The conviction concluded criminal proceedings related to repeated sexual offenses against a minor.

Francis E. Dailey

• Accused
  

Known as Brother Cosmas, Dailey joined the Xaverian Brothers in 1900 and died in 1961. In July 2019, the order publicly named him as accused, citing an allegation reported in 1999 of sexual abuse occurring between 1951 and 1955 in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Eugenio Cumerlato

• Settled
  

Cumerlato served in Italy, Mexico, Bangladesh, and the United States during his clerical career. He was accused of sexual abuse during his ministry. The allegations were addressed through civil settlement, concluding claims related to his international assignments.

William J. Cummings

• Settled
  

A member of the Singing Priests, Cummings died of AIDS in 1994. Personnel files released in January 2003 contained allegations that he sexually abused a ten-year-old boy in 1982. The matter was resolved through settlement without criminal adjudication.

Thomas M. Curran

• Unsubstantiated
  

Curran was removed from the priesthood in 2002 following allegations of sexual abuse of minors. In 2011, he was placed on administrative leave after new allegations surfaced. The archdiocese later classified the allegations as unsubstantiated following internal review.

John Curley

• Settled
  

Curley served as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Braintree and founded the Pilgrim Center for troubled youth. He worked closely with later-convicted priest Paul Shanley. In March 2011, he was among nine priests publicly identified through document releases. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Sister Agnes Daniels

• Settled
  

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced a settlement on behalf of an accuser alleging sexual abuse by Sister Agnes. The civil resolution concluded claims related to misconduct during her period of religious service.

Stephen F. Dawber

• Accused
  

Dawber was accused of molesting multiple students at Boston College High School and of transferring another perpetrator to Cheverus High School in Maine, where further abuse occurred. He was suspended from his position in March 2002. Dawber died on April 29, 2010.

Robert F. Daly

• Sued
  

Daly was named alongside numerous other priests in a civil lawsuit filed in 2005 alleging sexual abuse. He had been placed on leave in 1984 after four years at St. Anne’s Parish in Readville and was expected to retire at the end of that year.

Fidelis DeBerardinis

• Convicted
  

A Franciscan friar, DeBerardinis was charged with sexually assaulting seven altar boys between 1968 and 1973. He left Massachusetts in 1973 and later settled a sexual misconduct claim. He was eventually sentenced to eight years in prison followed by ten years of probation.

William R. Emerson

• Settled
  

Emerson was accused of sexually abusing a boy more than one hundred times at St. William’s Parish in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. He received a sentence of community service and was ordered to avoid jails. The claims were resolved through civil settlement.

Arthur T. Devlin

• Settled
  

Devlin was accused of sexually abusing a thirteen-year-old boy in 1959. The civil claim was resolved through a settlement in the mid–five-figure range, concluding legal action related to the alleged misconduct.

Gerard V. Dever

• Accused
  

Dever was reported to have repeatedly touched girls’ breasts and interfered with their clothing while working at St. Ann’s Elementary School in Wollaston. Despite threats from parishioners to appeal directly to the Cardinal, he was allowed to remain in ministry without suspension.

Paul M. Desilets

• Guilty plea
  

Desilets was accused of molesting at least twenty altar boys in Massachusetts before returning to Canada in 1984. In 2002, he was indicted for molesting eighteen additional boys between 1978 and 1984. He later pleaded guilty, concluding the criminal proceedings.

Charles F. Dewey

• Settled
  

Monsignor Dewey was accused of sexually abusing minors at St. Mary’s Parish in Dedham between 1971 and 1975. The civil claim was settled before a canonical investigation could be completed, resolving the matter without ecclesiastical adjudication.

John J. Dewire

• Settled
  

Dewire was named in a civil lawsuit filed in 2003 alleging sexual abuse. In 2011, the attorney representing the plaintiffs announced that all claims had been settled. No formal determination of guilt was issued through canonical or criminal processes.

Mark C. Doherty

• Accused
  

Doherty was a seminarian in Boston from 1989 to 1993 but was never ordained. In 1994, a woman reported that he had molested three of her sons. In 1997, he was later hired as a religion teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School.

Richard T. Donahue

• Settled
  

Donahue served as a parish priest in the archdiocese for twenty-three years and was publicly named as accused by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian on May 17, 2019. Although the archdiocese deemed the allegations unsubstantiated, the matter concluded through civil settlement.

Thomas D. Donnelly

• Sued
  

Absent without permission since 1981, Donnelly was accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl between the ages of six and eleven from 1974 to 1979. The Review Board later classified the allegations as unsubstantiated or determined he was acquitted through canonical process.

George Donnelly

• Accused
  

A teacher and Director of Student Activities at St. John’s Preparatory School, Donnelly was accused in 1993 of molesting a male student. He initially denied the allegation but later admitted to two incidents involving the seventeen-year-old student.

Ronald Dorsey

• Sued
  

Dorsey was accused of sexually abusing a twelve-year-old boy at Camp Wyoma in the early 1950s. He left the Stigmatine order in 1969 and relocated to Ajijic, Mexico. The allegations were pursued through civil litigation.

John Francis Dority

• Convicted
  

Dority served as a missionary in Brazil during the 1960s and early 1970s and later as a visiting priest at Holy Name Parish in Roslindale. In 2003, he was convicted of abusing twelve- and nineteen-year-old boys, served two years in prison, and was listed on the Connecticut sex offender registry. He died in 2019.

William J. Duffy

• Settled
  

Duffy was included on a list of accused priests and religious published by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian. The listing referenced allegations received in 2005 involving abuse occurring between 1957 and 1958. The claims were resolved through settlement.

John A. Dunn

• Sued
  

Dunn was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a neighborhood paperboy during 1967 and 1968. The allegations also referenced possible involvement by Pastor Leo V. Dwyer and Reverend Robert E. Barrett. The claims proceeded through civil litigation.

Leo V. Dwyer

• Settled
  

Dwyer was accused of sexually abusing a youth between 1967 and 1968. He died in 1989. A civil lawsuit was filed in 2005, but no formal determination of guilt was reached before the matter was resolved through settlement.

Frank E. Fairbairn

• Sued
  

Fairbairn left Northeastern University to minister in Peru from 1994 to 1999. He was accused of sexually abusing a fourteen-year-old boy in 1970. The allegation did not result in a formal determination of guilt and was addressed through civil proceedings.

James H. Coffey

• Settled
  

Coffey was accused of sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy in 1949. The abuse allegedly occurred in Coffey’s jeep. The civil claim was resolved through settlement, concluding legal action related to the allegation.

Robert C. Fichtner

• Sued
  

Monsignor Fichtner was placed on leave in 2003 following allegations of sexual abuse. In 2005, a twenty-seven-year-old man filed a lawsuit alleging that Fichtner abused him at age nine while attending St. Joseph’s School in Holbrook. The matter proceeded through civil litigation.

Paul J. Finegan

• Accused
  

Finegan was accused of sexually abusing two girls. He was treated at Southdown and returned to ministry, but was removed in 2002 after a nun reported a credible allegation from a young man who said he had been abused as a minor.

Robert D. Fay

• Settled
  

Fay took health leave in 1988 due to a heart condition and later worked as a real estate agent. He was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of eight and twelve while assigned to Incarnation Parish in Melrose. The claim was resolved through settlement.

Nolan Farrell

• Settled
  

Farrell was one of three accused priests and religious still alive in 2011 who had settled at least one sexual abuse claim. The settlements addressed allegations arising from his period of ministry within the archdiocese.

Joseph E. Flood

• Accused
  

Flood was accused of sexually abusing two or more students at Elm Bank Minor Seminary in Wellesley, Massachusetts, during the late 1950s. The allegations were handled administratively rather than through criminal prosecution.

John H. Flynn Jr.

• Settled
  

Flynn was accused of fondling a six-year-old girl in 1978. He was reinstated by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2005. Flynn died in 2011. The allegation was resolved through settlement.

James J. Foley

• Accused
  

Foley was placed on leave in 1999 after allegations that he fondled a fourteen-year-old boy’s genitals under the pretense of measuring him for bodybuilding training. He was banned from ministry involving minors in 2000 and died in 2016 before a canonical case was completed.

Thomas P. Forry

• Settled
  

In 1984, therapists recommended long-term hospitalization and treatment for Forry, which he refused. He was placed on leave in 2002 and laicized in 2006. The allegations were addressed through settlement and ecclesiastical discipline.

Joseph P. Fox

• Accused
  

Fox was publicly named as credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor during the years 1956 and 1957. The designation was issued as part of broader disclosure of historical abuse cases.

John Fowler

• Accused
  

In 2002, authorities provided Fowler’s name for investigation of possible sexual abuse charges. When a victim disclosed abuse to another priest, efforts were made internally to seek punishment of the perpetrators rather than report the conduct externally.

Michael Smith Foster

• Sued
  

Foster served as a senior canon lawyer in the Archdiocese of Boston. He was accused of sexually abusing a male teenager during the 1980s, suspended from ministry, later reinstated, and reviewed through investigation. As of June 2007, he was living in Florida without restrictions.

John F. Roche

• Indicted
  

Known as Jack Roche, he was publicly named as credibly accused by the Columbans U.S. Province in February 2022. Roche died in 2015. The designation followed posthumous review of allegations involving sexual abuse.

Francis G. McInerney

• Settled
  

Ordained in 1936, McInerney served at St. Brendan’s in Dorchester from 1937 to 1945 and at St. Thomas of Villanova in Wilmington from 1946 to 1951. He was accused of sexually abusing two girls in approximately 1948 while assigned in Wilmington, one aged fourteen and one aged nine, with abuse occurring in the rectory sunroom and church vestibule. Both civil claims were settled in June 2023 in the mid-to-high five figures.

Joseph P. Fratic

• Sued
  

A man filed a civil lawsuit in 2004 alleging that Fratic molested him after another priest lured him to Fratic’s home. The Archdiocese removed his ministerial privileges in 2004. The allegations proceeded through civil litigation.

Peter J. Frost

• Sued
  

Frost became a military chaplain in 1971 and was placed on sick leave by 1974. He later returned to parish work before being removed from St. Anne’s Parish in 1992. He admitted to abusing minors dating back to 1969, when he was serving as a deacon.

Joseph Fugolo

• Accused
  

In 1997, Fugolo was accused of taking nude photographs in the late 1960s of a boy who was also being abused at other times by Father John Bocciarelli, the pastor at the same church. Fugolo denied the allegation. As of April 2008, he was administrator of St. Charles Seminary/Residence in Dongan Hills, New York, resigned as provincial superior in 2009, and was in Montreal in 2010.

Ross S. Frey

• Settled
  

A Melkite priest, Frey was accused of molesting numerous adolescent boys between 1973 and 1984 during weekend retreats at the St. Basil Salvatorian Center in Methuen, Massachusetts. Additional allegations asserted sexual abuse of a teenage boy from 1986 to 1991 in Lawrence. The claims spanned multiple locations and years and were resolved through civil settlement rather than criminal prosecution.

Joseph A. Fusoni

• Accused
  

Records reflect that Fusoni was on a leave of absence from 1978 to 1979. In 1985, he was accused of molesting a fifteen-year-old altar boy. Fusoni died in 1988 from lung cancer. The allegation surfaced late in his life and was addressed administratively without criminal adjudication.

Brian Gallagher

• Settled
  

Originally from Ireland, Gallagher served as a missionary in Japan before returning briefly to Ireland and later being assigned to the United States, reportedly following abuse allegations abroad. He was accused of sexually abusing two brothers when they were children between 1973 and 1976. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement.

Robert V. Gale

• Convicted
  

By 2002, numerous complaints had accumulated regarding Gale’s abuse of young boys. He was arrested that year and charged with raping an altar boy repeatedly between 1980 and 1984. Gale was convicted and sentenced to four to five years in prison followed by probation, concluding the criminal case through incarceration.

John J. Gallagher

• Accused
  

In 2005, a woman accused Gallagher of sexually abusing her as a child while assigned to St. Mary’s Parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts, between 1972 and 1978. Eight plaintiffs alleged abuse by two priests, including Gallagher. The civil case was later resolved through a collective settlement totaling one million dollars.

James E. Gaudreau

• Accused
  

Gaudreau was removed from his parish in Lynn in 2012 following an allegation of child sexual abuse. He was placed on unpaid leave and barred from public ministry. In 2014, he resigned from clerical service, ending his formal association with the Archdiocese of Boston.

Kenneth Ghastin

• Settled
  

Personnel files released in December 2002 documented that Ghastin molested two brothers while teaching at Christopher Columbus High School during the early 1970s. The civil claims were settled in 1994. One of the brothers later died by suicide, and the allegations were addressed through settlement rather than criminal prosecution.

John J. Geoghan

• Convicted
  

Geoghan was accused of raping and molesting at least 150 children over decades of ministry. He was involuntarily laicized in 1998 and later convicted, receiving a prison sentence of nine to ten years. While incarcerated, he was murdered in 2003 by another inmate, ending further legal proceedings.

James M. Gibbons

• Settled
  

In 1961, Gibbons was accused of sexually abusing a twelve-year-old girl at a parish school. The allegation related to his early years of ministry and was resolved through civil settlement. No criminal conviction resulted from the claim.

Jerome F. Gillespie

• Arrested
  

Gillespie was accused of soliciting oral sex from an adult woman and her twelve-year-old daughter. He pleaded not guilty to most charges. After legal proceedings, he returned to work without public announcement and remained unassigned. The case concluded without a criminal conviction.

James Randal Gillette

• Convicted
  

A personnel file released in 2003 contained a letter accusing Gillette of sexually assaulting a boy at St. Gabriel’s Parish in Brighton in 1972. Gillette pleaded guilty to committing unnatural acts with a child under sixteen between 1972 and 1975, resulting in a criminal conviction.

Thomas M. Gillespie

• Accused
  

Gillespie was placed on administrative leave in February 2015 following an allegation of sexual abuse. An internal review later classified the allegation as unsubstantiated in 2022. He remained restricted from ministry during the review process.

Joseph Gilpin

• Settled
  

Gilpin was sued for sexually abusing a boy. When the allegations became public, he resigned from his position as assistant principal at a middle school. The civil claim was resolved through settlement, concluding the matter without criminal prosecution.

Peter G. Gori

• Reinstated
  

Gori was accused of sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy approximately twenty-eight years earlier. He denied the allegation and was placed on administrative leave in April 2019. After review, he was reinstated in March 2020 and returned to his role as pastor of St. Augustine’s Parish in Andover.

Ricardo Gonzalez

• Convicted
  

Gonzalez pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three children. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The conviction concluded criminal proceedings related to multiple victims and resulted in his removal from ministry.

Daniel M. Graham

• Settled
  

Graham was accused of repeatedly molesting a fourteen-year-old boy and later admitted the allegations were true. Despite the admission, he was initially allowed to return to work. He was placed on leave in 2002 and died in 2023. The claims were resolved through settlement.

Louis J. Govoni

• Sued
  

Govoni was accused of abusing a male student at Archbishop Williams High School between 1972 and 1974. He was listed as absent without permission from ministry beginning in 1978. In 2003, he was fired from his position as a substitute teacher at Duxbury High School following disclosure of the allegations.

James J. Haddad

• Settled
  

A monsignor, Haddad was accused of sexually abusing a boy aged thirteen to fourteen multiple times between 1976 and 1977 while assigned to St. Eulalia’s Parish in Winchester. The lawsuit was settled in June 2021 in the high five figures. Haddad died in 2007.

John E. Guiney

• Settled
  

Known as Father Jack Guiney, he was included on a list of accused priests and religious published by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. Guiney died on June 2, 1998. The allegations were addressed through settlement prior to publication.

Arthur J. Hagan

• Settled
  

At least one civil claim involving allegations of sexual abuse by Hagan was settled with the Archdiocese of Boston. No formal determination of guilt was made through canonical or criminal proceedings, and the matter concluded through civil resolution.

John R. Hanlon

• Convicted
  

Hanlon was accused of sexually abusing at least ten boys over a fourteen-year period. In March 1994, he was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences. Despite his conviction, he continued to be listed as a senior or retired priest by the Archdiocese as late as 2005.

Thomas Harrison

• Accused
  

Known as Brother Bosco, Harrison was publicly named as accused by the Xaverian Brothers. His name also appeared in the Maryland Attorney General’s Report addressing institutional abuse. The allegations related to his service within religious educational settings.

William A. Hennessy

• Settled
  

In 2011, a woman accused Hennessy of repeatedly sexually abusing her between 1962 and 1964, beginning when she was eight years old. Hennessy had entered the Christian Brothers’ St. Joseph’s Juniorate in Dublin in 1915. The claim was resolved through settlement.

Gerald J. Hickey

• Sued
  

A former chaplain to the New England Patriots football team, Hickey was placed on leave in 2002 after two nephews alleged sexual abuse. A diocesan review board later found the allegations unsubstantiated or concluded he was acquitted through canonical process. The claims proceeded through civil litigation.

Paul Hightower

• Settled
  

Hightower, a lay volunteer who was never ordained, was accused of sexually abusing at least two minors at Nazareth, a children’s home in Jamaica Plain, during the early 1960s. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement.

Thomas F. Holihan

• Accused
  

Known as Brother Rudolph, Holihan joined the Xaverian Brothers in 1931 and died in 1991. In July 2019, the order publicly named him as accused, citing a report made in 2004 alleging sexual abuse in Danvers, Massachusetts, during the early 1960s.

Anthony Hogan

• Accused
  

Also known as Francis Hogan, he was publicly named as accused on the Divine Word Missionaries Chicago Province list. Hogan died in 2008. The allegation was disclosed posthumously through religious order reporting.

James Barron Holsenbach

• Accused
  

Holsenbach, also known as Brother Stanislaus, was accused of sexual misconduct occurring in 1958 and 1960 while associated with Central Catholic High School. The allegations concerned abuse during his role within the school environment.

Edward Anthony Holmes

• Convicted
  

Holmes worked as a residential counselor at the Nazareth Child Care Center in Jamaica Plain. He was arrested in 2005 for sexually abusing and photographing two boys and was sentenced to five years and one day in prison. He later pleaded guilty to raping a third boy and received an additional sentence.

Paul William Hurley

• Convicted
  

Hurley was arrested and indicted in 2002. He was sentenced to four years in prison followed by five years of probation and was laicized in 2006. His name was included on the Archdiocese of Boston’s list of accused clergy in 2011.

James Hutchinson

• Accused
  

Hutchinson was accused of sexually abusing at least one nine-year-old boy in 1960 while assigned to St. Thomas More Parish in Braintree. The allegation related to his parish ministry during that period.

Raymond L. Hyder

• Sued
  

Hyder was accused of molesting a teenage boy while assigned to St. Margaret’s Parish in Lowell, Massachusetts. He died in 1975. The investigation into the allegation was not completed before his death, and the matter proceeded through civil channels.

Kelvin E. Iguabita-Rodriguez

• Convicted
  

Iguabita-Rodriguez was arrested in 2000 on two counts of raping a fifteen-year-old girl. A canonical investigation initiated by Cardinal Law found him guilty in June 2003. He was later included on the archdiocese’s accused list, deported in 2015, and named in a civil lawsuit filed in May 2022 alleging abuse between 1999 and 2001.

Harold Joseph Johnson

• Settled
  

A man wrote to Cardinal Law alleging that Johnson sexually abused him as a teenager. Johnson was placed on sick leave in 1992 and sent to St. Luke Institute, where he admitted to reoffending as recently as 1988. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Alphonse B. Jansonis

• Settled
  

Known as Father Mike Jansonis, he was accused of sexually abusing a girl at Most Holy Redeemer Parish in East Boston between 1951 and 1957. The civil lawsuit was settled, and no formal determination of guilt was issued.

Richard G. Johnson

• Accused
  

Johnson was placed on leave in 2003 after it became known that he had been accused of inappropriate relationships with teenage girls dating back to the 1950s. Although the allegations were deemed unsubstantiated, restrictions were placed on his ministerial privileges.

Charles R. Kane

• Settled
  

Kane was accused of sexually abusing an altar boy between 1973 and 1974 while assigned to St. Mary’s Parish in Billerica. He died before a canonical investigation could be completed. The civil claim was resolved through settlement.

Peter S. Kanchong

• Convicted
  

An extern priest from Thailand, Kanchong was arrested in 1983 and charged with molesting a nine-year-old girl. He refused to return to Thailand and was later noted as absent without leave in church records. He was omitted from the archdiocese’s 2011 list but continued to appear in later internal status reports.

John F. Keane

• Convicted
  

Keane pleaded guilty in February 2008 to indecent assault and battery on a person under fourteen and three counts of assault and battery. He relocated to Florida, registered as a sex offender, was involuntarily laicized in 2009, and died on May 17, 2021.

Dominic Karow

• Settled
  

A religious brother, Karow served as a third-grade teacher in Boston Public Schools for thirty-one years. He was accused of molesting a boy, with the allegation surfacing in 1994. He did not report the misconduct to school officials. The claim was resolved through settlement.

Bernard J. Keenan

• Accused
  

Keenan died in 1966. He was later accused of digitally raping an eight-year-old altar boy in 1961 while assigned to St. John’s Parish in Wellesley. The allegation emerged posthumously and was documented through later reporting.

Arnold E. Kelley

• Reinstated
  

In 1997, a woman accused Kelley of past abuse at St. Rita’s Parish in Lowell. A second allegation emerged in 2002. The diocesan review board found no credible evidence, and Kelley agreed to relocate. He was reinstated following the review.

Dennis A. Keefe

• Accused
  

Keefe was accused of sexually attacking a fifteen-year-old altar boy but maintained his innocence. He was removed from his parish assignment in 1995, officially for health reasons. The allegation was handled administratively rather than through criminal prosecution.

Donald J. Keenan

• Accused
  

In 1998, Keenan was accused of masturbating two boys, one aged thirteen and another who was mentally challenged, in his family home in Malden in 1977. He allegedly required the boys to masturbate him. Keenan died in 1995 and was omitted from the archdiocese’s 2011 database.

Edward T. Kelley

• Settled
  

In 1977, police found Kelley in a car with a seventeen-year-old boy and notified the archdiocese. In 1992, a man reported that Kelley fondled his genitals when he was eleven during incidents in 1968 and 1969. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Joseph W. Kenney

• Sued
  

A civil lawsuit filed in 2002 against the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Law, and others alleged failure to respond to sexual abuse complaints and protection of perpetrators. Kenney, who died in 1992, was named in connection with the broader institutional claims rather than a single adjudicated offense.

Robert W. Kirchmeyer

• Accused
  

Kirchmeyer was permitted to remain in ministry after allegations were reported anonymously or later withdrawn. He continued clerical service and was granted senior priest and retired status prior to his death. Kirchmeyer died in 2008, with the allegations addressed administratively and without criminal proceedings.

Edward M. Keohan

• Settled
  

Keohan spent five years as a missionary, largely in Peru, before returning to parish ministry in Massachusetts. He was accused of fondling a teenage boy at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chelsea. The diocesan review board later exonerated him, and he was returned to active status. The related civil matter was resolved through settlement.

Albert F. Kerressey

• Sued
  

Known as Brother Ricardo or Richard, Kerressey served as headmaster at St. John’s Preparatory School. He was accused of sexually abusing a student who had been injured during a hazing incident. Kerressey died in 1997. The allegation proceeded through civil litigation rather than criminal prosecution.

Robert J. Knapp

• Accused
  

Knapp was accused of sexually abusing a child, three women, and engaging in hundreds of incidents of misconduct between 1979 and 1984. In 1988, he left the Archdiocese of Boston without permission. The allegations were handled administratively and through civil processes rather than criminal conviction.

Leo R. Labbe

• Settled
  

Known as Brother Gerald Labbe, he was accused of forcing an eleven-year-old boy to perform oral sex during 1960 and 1961. He was placed on administrative leave. Additional allegations asserted that he failed to report multiple abusers while working at Bishop Guertin High School. The claims were resolved through settlement.

Leo P. Landry

• Convicted
  

Landry pleaded guilty to sexual abuse charges in Massachusetts and was sentenced to lifetime probation. Multiple victims filed civil lawsuits related to his misconduct. The conviction concluded criminal proceedings, and the civil claims addressed abuse involving more than one victim.

James H. Lane

• Settled
  

Lane served for thirty years as chaplain to the Boston Police Department. He was accused of sexually abusing an altar boy between 1966 and 1967. Lane died before the allegations could be fully investigated. The claim was resolved through civil settlement after his death.

John J. Lane

• Accused
  

Monsignor Lane was accused of sexually abusing two complainants at St. Theresa’s Parish in North Reading. He died in 1971 before a canonical investigation could be completed. The allegations were documented posthumously and addressed administratively.

Bernard J. Lane

• Settled
  

Lane was accused by dozens of boys of sexual abuse at Alpha Omega facilities in Littleton, Massachusetts, and at his cottage in New Hampshire. He was reprimanded in 2002 for submitting a false affidavit, laicized in 2004, and died in 2023. The claims were resolved through civil settlement.

Joseph R. Laughlin

• Accused
  

Laughlin was publicly named as credibly accused by the Jesuit Northeast Province. His religious order imposed restrictions on him in 1990. The allegations were addressed internally within the Jesuit order rather than through criminal proceedings.

Anthony J. Laurano

• Indicted
  

Laurano retired in 1995 and was sued in 2002. In 2005, he was indicted on two counts of child rape. He was laicized in 2007 and died shortly before his criminal trial was scheduled to begin, ending the prosecution.

Victor C. LaVoie

• Accused
  

LaVoie was placed on leave in 2002 after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused a fifteen-year-old boy. He denied all allegations. In 2011, he was granted retired status by the Archdiocese of Boston following administrative review.

Kenneth A. LeBlanc

• Accused
  

LeBlanc was placed on leave in February 2009 while the archdiocese investigated allegations of sexual abuse involving a ten-year-old girl approximately twenty-five to thirty years earlier. He died in January 2010 while the matter was under review.

Roger R. Leblanc

• Settled
  

Leblanc was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of eleven and twelve during 1972 and 1973. He died in 1978 at approximately thirty-one or thirty-two years old. The civil claim related to the allegation was resolved through settlement.

Charles M. Loeffler

• Sued
  

Loeffler was sent to Iraq as a missionary within several years of ordination and spent approximately twenty years there. He was later named in sexual abuse lawsuits filed in January 2003. Loeffler died in 1992 at age eighty.

James L. MacGuinness

• Settled
  

A ninety-year-old man alleged that MacGuinness sexually abused him between 1938 and 1940 while assigned to St. Joseph’s Parish in Roxbury. MacGuinness also served at multiple other parishes during his ministry. The claim was resolved through civil settlement.

Samuel J. Lombard

• Sued
  

Retired and deceased in 1998, Lombard was accused in a 2001 pro se lawsuit of sodomizing a nine-year-old altar boy in a sacristy in 1968; the suit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. In June 2002, a woman alleged Lombard sexually assaulted her as an adult. His name was included on the Archdiocese of Boston’s list of accused priests in August 2011.

John P. Lyons

• Acquitted
  

Lyons was placed on leave after two men filed civil suits alleging abuse while they served as altar boys. He was arrested in 2002 and acquitted by a jury in 2005. Despite acquittal, he was listed by the archdiocese in 2011, with related civil matters continuing into 2020.

Thomas H. Maguire

• Accused
  

Following public disclosure, additional individuals came forward with allegations of sexual abuse. Maguire, pastor of St. Helen Mother of the Emperor Constantine Parish in Norwell, took voluntary leave without privileges on October 28, 2012. He was laicized on March 31, 2016.

Paul Francis Manning

• Acquitted
  

Manning was criminally charged in 1993 with sexually abusing an eleven-year-old altar boy and was acquitted in 1994. He was placed on administrative leave in 1996. In 2002, a man and a woman separately alleged that Manning abused them as minors.

Paul J. Mahan

• Sued
  

Mahan was warned twice and sent for treatment on two occasions before facing extensive litigation. Twelve civil lawsuits were filed alleging sexual abuse. He was involuntarily laicized following the accumulation of claims and administrative review.

William Marinan

• Accused
  

Known as Brother LaSalle, Marinan joined the Xaverian Brothers in 1947. He was publicly named as accused by the order in July 2019, referencing a report received in 2011 alleging abuse in Massachusetts during the early 1970s. Marinan died in 2014.

William F. Maloney

• Accused
  

Maloney was accused of sexually abusing a minor in the late 1960s while assigned to St. Theresa’s Parish in North Reading. He was laicized in 1974 on unrelated grounds. The abuse allegation emerged later through historical reporting.

Jon C. Martin

• Accused
  

A man reported that Martin groped him in 1965 when he was fourteen years old. The allegation was reviewed and found unsubstantiated by the archdiocese. Martin retired from ministry in 2001 following administrative handling of the claim.

Richard O. Matte

• Settled
  

The archdiocese investigated Matte in 1992 after receiving an anonymous letter, with personnel records later documenting two complaints that year and at least one additional complaint by November 1993. He was removed from ministry in 1994. By March 2002, six men had brought complaints and received settlements, and he was sued at least twice. Matte voluntarily sought laicization, announced on June 10, 2005, was listed by the archdiocese in 2011, and died in 2017.

John Kevin McAndrews

• Sued
  

McAndrews was accused of sexually abusing a boy during the late 1960s while assigned to St. Athanasius Church in Reading, Massachusetts. He died in 1986 at age sixty-three. The claim proceeded through civil litigation after his death.

Julius Martin Mattingly

• Settled
  

Mattingly was accused of repeatedly molesting a girl between 1969 and 1975. A settlement had already been reached prior to renewed disclosure. He died in 1991. The civil resolution concluded claims related to the alleged abuse.

McAvoy

• Sued
  

McAvoy was accused of sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl at the Boston School for the Deaf around 1972. Multiple civil lawsuits were filed. All claims were later withdrawn or dismissed, ending the litigation without a determination of liability.

George V. McCabe

• Sued
  

In 2002, three men accused McCabe of sexual abuse, and five additional men alleged that he fondled them as minors during the 1970s. McCabe died in 1998. The allegations were pursued through civil litigation rather than criminal prosecution.

Paul R. McCarthy

• Settled
  

McCarthy was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of eleven and twelve beginning in 1989 and continuing into 1990. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement, concluding legal action related to the reported misconduct.

James T. McDonald

• Settled
  

Complaints began in 1993 when a woman said McDonald abused her at age fourteen, followed in 1994 by a report that he abused a girl when she was ten; he was removed from active ministry in 1994 and later retired in 1996. A 1996 complaint alleged abuse in 1965 to 1966, and in 1997 he wrote an apology letter that was not provided to the complainant until 2003. He admitted abusing four to five girls, and one settlement was $35,000; he died in 1999, with Cardinal Law officiating his funeral.

Charles R. McGahey

• Accused
  

McGahey was publicly named as accused by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian on May 7, 2019. He died on September 9, 2004. The allegation was disclosed posthumously through public reporting of clergy misconduct.

Paul E. McDonald

• Settled
  

Several men accused McDonald of sexual abuse during the early to mid-1960s while assigned to St. Joseph’s Parish in Hyde Park. One man alleged repeated abuse over five years beginning at age ten, including incidents during trips to the Blue Hills. The claims were settled.

Edward J. McLaughlin

• Accused
  

McLaughlin was publicly named as accused by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian on May 7, 2019. He died on October 12, 2013. The allegation was disclosed posthumously through public identification of accused clergy.

Joseph E. McInnis

• Settled
  

A lawsuit filed in 2003 alleged that McInnis sexually abused a girl between the ages of six and eleven. The claim was resolved as part of the Archdiocese of Boston’s global settlement totaling eighty-five million dollars in the fall of 2003.

James T. McKeon

• Accused
  

In 2002, a woman accused McKeon of sexually abusing her as a child during the 1940s. She reported that her parents were instructed to remain silent for the good of the church. The allegation was addressed administratively without criminal proceedings.

Paul J. McLaughlin

• Settled
  

Ordained in 1955 in Yakima, Washington, McLaughlin retired from Boston in 2001 and relocated to California. He was placed on leave in 2003 after three men accused him of abusing them as minors during the 1960s in Massachusetts. He denied the allegations, which were resolved through settlement.

John E. McLaughlin

• Settled
  

McLaughlin was named in a September 2002 lawsuit alleging abuse by twelve priests, including claims that he groped one man during counseling in June 2001 and another at a family christening. Both claims were resolved in the 2003 global settlement. He was placed on leave in May 2004 after a new allegation of abuse from approximately twenty years earlier, formally removed from assignment in April 2005, listed by the archdiocese in August 2011, and later assigned senior priest status with restrictions after the tribunal deemed the allegations unsubstantiated in August 2012.

Benjamin J. McMahon Jr.

• Accused
  

Arrested in 1985 following a sex act with an adult man, McMahon took leave from the priesthood in 1986. He was later accused of sexually abusing three of his sons during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The allegations emerged after his departure from active ministry and were handled through civil and administrative channels rather than criminal conviction.

Gerard T. McMahon

• Convicted
  

McMahon was accused of raping a girl repeatedly between 1967 and 1970. After leaving the Archdiocese of Boston, he served as a military chaplain. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to lifetime probation. McMahon died in 2013, concluding both criminal accountability and subsequent administrative review.

Francis J. McManus

• Settled
  

McManus was removed from hospital chaplaincy in the Diocese of Fall River after a man alleged molestation during the 1970s at Boston College High School. A civil claim settled in January 2003 for $600,000. Afterward, he was assigned to parishes in the dioceses of Norwich, Connecticut, and Kingsport, Tennessee.

Paul G. McPartland

• Unsubstantiated
  

In 1998, a woman alleged that McPartland molested her when she was sixteen years old. The Archdiocese paid nearly $18,000 for therapy expenses. After review, the archdiocese determined that the precise nature of the incident could not be reliably established, and the allegation was classified as unsubstantiated.

Richard E. McQuade

• Accused
  

In 1996, a man produced approximately thirty letters written by McQuade to his son. The son had died in a 1992 automobile accident while traveling to McQuade’s home. The correspondence prompted allegations of inappropriate conduct, which were addressed administratively rather than through criminal proceedings.

Humberto S. Medeiros

• Accused
  

Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston, was accused of touching a fourteen-year-old boy in the groin during a meeting at the chancery. He was also linked to administrative decisions that reassigned priests accused of abuse between parishes and discouraged families from public disclosure. The allegations emerged post-tenure and were handled through historical review.

John M. Mendicoa

• Unsubstantiated
  

Mendicoa was placed on leave following allegations of sexual abuse. After investigation, the Archdiocese of Boston deemed the allegations unsubstantiated. In 2012, he was assigned the status of senior priest with restrictions, reflecting administrative resolution without criminal findings.

Robert V. Meffan

• Accused
  

Complaints against Meffan surfaced as early as 1977. In 1986, Bishop Robert Banks documented that Meffan was engaging in sexual acts with girls as young as fifteen. He retired from ministry in 1996 and was formally laicized in 2004 following sustained administrative review of the allegations.

Fiori Dominic Menna

• Settled
  

Menna was accused of sexually abusing at least two children. Following the allegations, he was removed as senior priest in residence at St. Mary’s Parish in Quincy. In 2016, church authorities imposed a sentence of prayer and penance, concluding administrative proceedings alongside civil resolution.

Edward Michael

• Accused
  

A man in his sixties alleged that Michael sexually abused him at ages fourteen to fifteen while he attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence. The complainant stated that school officials were informed but responded by transferring him out of the accused brother’s class. The allegation was addressed administratively.

Lawrence Joseph Michaud

• Accused
  

Cardinal Law received a letter from a woman alleging that Michaud repeatedly sexually abused her when she was twelve years old. The complaint prompted internal review within the Archdiocese of Boston and was documented as part of broader clergy abuse disclosures.

Edwin Modicowitz

• Accused
  

Modicowitz was accused in 1998 of sexually abusing an altar boy in 1965 or 1966 while assigned to St. Denis Parish in Westwood, Massachusetts. The allegation surfaced decades later and was handled through civil and administrative processes rather than criminal prosecution.

William H. Morgan

• Sued
  

In 1992, the Archdiocese received a letter alleging that Morgan sexually abused his two young nephews. He was sent for psychiatric evaluation and resigned from his position as a parish pastor in 1993. The allegations proceeded through civil litigation rather than criminal trial.

Paul J. Moriarty

• Sued
  

Moriarty was named as a perpetrator in a September 2002 lawsuit filed by twenty-seven plaintiffs alleging systemic cover-up of abuse by twelve priests over fifty years. His inclusion stemmed from claims of sexual abuse addressed through civil proceedings involving the Archdiocese of Boston.

Robert H. Morrissette

• Accused
  

A personnel file released in December 2002 documented Morrissette’s admission to sexually molesting a sixteen-year-old boy. The file also noted possession of pornography and homosexual relationships. The disclosures resulted in administrative action rather than criminal conviction.

Philip D. Moriarty

• Accused
  

The Jesuits Northeast Province named Moriarty as credibly accused in 2005 for abuse of a minor. The designation followed internal investigation by the religious order and resulted in restrictions consistent with Jesuit protocols for substantiated allegations.

Thomas Morrissey

• Accused
  

Known as Brother Gabriel, Morrissey was publicly named as accused by the Xaverian Brothers in July 2019. He had been placed on a safety plan in 2002 following abuse concerns. Morrissey died in 2021, with the allegation addressed through order records.

Jay Michael Mullin

• Settled
  

Mullin was accused of sexually molesting a boy in the early 1970s. He was removed from parish ministry in 1992, settled a civil claim in 1997, and was again removed from ministry in 2002. He remains on administrative leave.

Thomas F. Motherway

• Accused
  

Motherway was included on a list of forty-eight priests removed from the Boston clergy directory in 2003 due to suspension following abuse allegations. He died in 2003. The allegations were handled administratively and documented through public disclosure.

Alfred M. Murphy

• Settled
  

Murphy was accused of molesting a seventeen-year-old boy in 1983. A civil lawsuit was filed and settled in 1992. Following the settlement, Murphy was transferred to a monastery in Philadelphia, where he lived under supervision imposed by church authorities.

Charles J. Murphy

• Sued
  

Murphy was accused of entering a room at the Boston School for the Deaf while a girl was partially clothed and later fondling her. He was reinstated after review but stepped down again following a subsequent allegation. The matters proceeded through civil litigation.

David C. Murphy

• Settled
  

Murphy was removed as chaplain at Brockton Hospital in February 2002 after multiple allegations of sexual abuse. He remained on administrative leave through 2011, with canonical proceedings still ongoing as of 2020. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement.

Kenneth B. Murphy

• Settled
  

Murphy was listed among accused priests and religious by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian in January 2011. He died on May 22, 1999. The allegations were addressed posthumously through civil disclosure and settlement processes.

Anthony Ngwumohaike

• Accused
  

Ngwumohaike was one of three priests whose personnel files contained allegations of sexual abuse. All remained in active ministry because the allegations were either anonymous or later withdrawn. The matters were resolved administratively without criminal or civil adjudication.

Paul Niehauser

• Accused
  

Niehauser was named publicly as credibly accused by the Divine Missionaries Chicago Province as of February 2024. Records indicate abuse occurred in 1951 in Duxbury, Massachusetts. He served in multiple countries and U.S. states during his ministry and died in 1968.

W. James Nyhan

• Convicted
  

Nyhan was accused of sexually abusing an eleven-year-old girl while assigned to St. Brendan’s Parish in Dorchester in 1980. He pleaded guilty immediately before the start of his criminal trial. A thirty-year sentence was imposed and later modified to five years of probation, resolving the criminal case through conviction.

Rickard J. O’Donovan

• Settled
  

O’Donovan was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of nine and eleven in the rectory of St. Colman’s Church in Brockton. The allegation was addressed through civil litigation and resolved by settlement without criminal prosecution.

Denis O’Driscoll

• Settled
  

O’Driscoll was accused of sexually abusing a boy aged eight to nine while assigned to St. Paul’s Parish in Hingham. The claim was resolved through a civil settlement reached in 1994 in the mid–five figures.

Arthur P. O’Leary

• Accused
  

O’Leary was placed on administrative leave in 1994 after two fathers reported that he had inappropriately touched their sons. Separate accounts described him engaging in sexual activity with strangers at Cape Cod rest areas during the 1980s. The allegations resulted in removal from active ministry.

Eugene M. O’Sullivan

• Convicted
  

O’Sullivan was accused of abusing an altar boy and subsequently transferred among three parishes. He was later convicted of raping an altar boy and sentenced to incarceration. After serving his sentence, he retired with senior priest status. O’Sullivan died in 2019.

William V. O’Neill

• Accused
  

O’Neill was accused of sexually abusing and exploiting a twelve-year-old boy in 1957. The allegation emerged decades later through historical reporting. He died in 1960, and the matter was addressed posthumously through documentation.

Francis E. O’Brien Jr.

• Settled
  

O’Brien was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a boy between the ages of seven and twelve from 1966 to 1971 while assigned to Christ the King Parish in Hudson. A civil lawsuit was settled in June 2021 in the high five figures. O’Brien died in 2008.

Donald J. O’Toole

• Accused
  

Known as Alois O’Toole, he was named publicly as accused by the Xaverian Brothers in 2019. He had been removed from ministry in 1989 following abuse allegations. O’Toole died in 2006, with the designation issued posthumously.

Christian Ohazulume

• Charged
  

An extern priest from Nigeria, Ohazulume was charged in 2007 with sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. Since 2010, he has served as a chaplain at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center while the matter proceeded through the courts.

Julian S. Pagacz

• Convicted
  

Pagacz, a parish priest in the Polish National Catholic Church, was arrested in 1992 and accused of raping two teenage girls. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to undergo sex offender counseling, resolving the criminal case through conviction.

Lionel P. Ouellette

• Accused
  

Ouellette developed a reputation for inappropriate conduct with young women and was accused in 1994 of improperly touching young girls while serving as an assistant priest during the early 1960s. The allegations were handled administratively.

Joseph A. Papile

• Settled
  

Papile was included on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. He died on December 25, 2009. The allegations were addressed through civil settlement.

Ronald H. Paquin

• Convicted
  

Paquin was convicted in 2002 on three counts of child rape and sentenced to twelve to fifteen years in prison. He was laicized in 2004. In 2017, he was indicted on twenty-nine additional counts involving two boys, found guilty on eleven counts, and acquitted on charges related to the second boy.

Varghese Pereppadan

• Convicted
  

A visiting priest from India, Pereppadan was convicted of sexually molesting a teenage girl. He received a sentence of one year of probation. His name was omitted from the 2011 Archdiocese of Boston database following the conviction.

Mario Pezzotti

• Settled
  

Pezzotti was accused of sexually molesting students at Xaverian Missionary Faith High School in Brazil. The allegations were addressed through civil resolution rather than criminal proceedings.

Leonard E. Pelletier

• Accused
  

Pelletier was placed on leave in 2002 after an allegation of sexual abuse surfaced involving conduct that occurred more than twenty years earlier. The archdiocese removed him from active ministry pending administrative review.

John M. Picardi Jr.

• Unsubstantiated
  

Picardi was accused in 1992 of raping a twenty-nine-year-old male youth minister. He was placed on sick leave, sent for counseling, and transferred to the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, where he later faced an unrelated allegation involving a minor. The original claim was deemed unsubstantiated.

Raymond C. Plourde

• Settled
  

Personnel files released in December 2002 showed that Plourde admitted initiating a sexual relationship with a twelve-year-old boy in 1976 that lasted approximately two years. In 1990, he reached a private settlement with the victim for about $38,000.

Leo E. Pollard

• Settled
  

Pollard taught at Boston College High School and Fairfield Preparatory School in Connecticut. He was included on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Steven W. Poitras

• Laicized
  

Poitras was removed from St. Michael’s Parish in Hudson after a sexual abuse allegation surfaced and was placed on sick leave. Although the allegation was later found unsubstantiated, he was laicized in 2018 following administrative proceedings.

James F. Power

• Settled
  

Power was accused in 1992 of sexually molesting a thirteen-year-old boy during a camping trip to Maine in the 1980s. A $35,000 settlement was reached in 1996. He was granted retired status and later restricted privileges in 2009.

Raymond A. Prybis

• Accused
  

Prybis was accused in 1992 of exposing himself to a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy in a Boston parish during the mid-1980s and directing the boy to strike him with a belt while he was naked. The allegation was addressed administratively.

Dennis Raeihle

• Settled
  

Raeihle was one of three living religious named on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement.

Henry J. Rancourt

• Settled
  

Rancourt was anonymously accused in 1992 of kissing and molesting Haitian boys at a Boston parish school. He also served in parishes in North Easton, New Bedford, and Vineyard Haven. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Redmond H. Raux

• Settled
  

Raux was accused of molesting a boy in 1987. The allegation was either found unsubstantiated or resulted in acquittal through canonical process. He was later appointed Dean for the European Vicariate of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

W. James Nyhan

• Convicted
  

Nyhan was accused of sexually abusing an eleven-year-old girl while assigned to St. Brendan’s Parish in Dorchester in 1980. He pleaded guilty immediately before the start of his criminal trial. A thirty-year sentence was imposed and later modified to five years of probation, resolving the criminal case through conviction.

Rickard J. O’Donovan

• Settled
  

O’Donovan was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of nine and eleven in the rectory of St. Colman’s Church in Brockton. The allegation was addressed through civil litigation and resolved by settlement without criminal prosecution.

Denis O’Driscoll

• Settled
  

O’Driscoll was accused of sexually abusing a boy aged eight to nine while assigned to St. Paul’s Parish in Hingham. The claim was resolved through a civil settlement reached in 1994 in the mid–five figures.

Arthur P. O’Leary

• Accused
  

O’Leary was placed on administrative leave in 1994 after two fathers reported that he had inappropriately touched their sons. Separate accounts described him engaging in sexual activity with strangers at Cape Cod rest areas during the 1980s. The allegations resulted in removal from active ministry.

Eugene M. O’Sullivan

• Convicted
  

O’Sullivan was accused of abusing an altar boy and subsequently transferred among three parishes. He was later convicted of raping an altar boy and sentenced to incarceration. After serving his sentence, he retired with senior priest status. O’Sullivan died in 2019.

William V. O’Neill

• Accused
  

O’Neill was accused of sexually abusing and exploiting a twelve-year-old boy in 1957. The allegation emerged decades later through historical reporting. He died in 1960, and the matter was addressed posthumously through documentation.

Francis E. O’Brien Jr.

• Settled
  

O’Brien was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a boy between the ages of seven and twelve from 1966 to 1971 while assigned to Christ the King Parish in Hudson. A civil lawsuit was settled in June 2021 in the high five figures. O’Brien died in 2008.

Donald J. O’Toole

• Accused
  

Known as Alois O’Toole, he was named publicly as accused by the Xaverian Brothers in 2019. He had been removed from ministry in 1989 following abuse allegations. O’Toole died in 2006, with the designation issued posthumously.

Christian Ohazulume

• Charged
  

An extern priest from Nigeria, Ohazulume was charged in 2007 with sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. Since 2010, he has served as a chaplain at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center while the matter proceeded through the courts.

Julian S. Pagacz

• Convicted
  

Pagacz, a parish priest in the Polish National Catholic Church, was arrested in 1992 and accused of raping two teenage girls. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to undergo sex offender counseling, resolving the criminal case through conviction.

Lionel P. Ouellette

• Accused
  

Ouellette developed a reputation for inappropriate conduct with young women and was accused in 1994 of improperly touching young girls while serving as an assistant priest during the early 1960s. The allegations were handled administratively.

Joseph A. Papile

• Settled
  

Papile was included on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. He died on December 25, 2009. The allegations were addressed through civil settlement.

Ronald H. Paquin

• Convicted
  

Paquin was convicted in 2002 on three counts of child rape and sentenced to twelve to fifteen years in prison. He was laicized in 2004. In 2017, he was indicted on twenty-nine additional counts involving two boys, found guilty on eleven counts, and acquitted on charges related to the second boy.

Varghese Pereppadan

• Convicted
  

A visiting priest from India, Pereppadan was convicted of sexually molesting a teenage girl. He received a sentence of one year of probation. His name was omitted from the 2011 Archdiocese of Boston database following the conviction.

Mario Pezzotti

• Settled
  

Pezzotti was accused of sexually molesting students at Xaverian Missionary Faith High School in Brazil. The allegations were addressed through civil resolution rather than criminal proceedings.

Leonard E. Pelletier

• Accused
  

Pelletier was placed on leave in 2002 after an allegation of sexual abuse surfaced involving conduct that occurred more than twenty years earlier. The archdiocese removed him from active ministry pending administrative review.

John M. Picardi Jr.

• Unsubstantiated
  

Picardi was accused in 1992 of raping a twenty-nine-year-old male youth minister. He was placed on sick leave, sent for counseling, and transferred to the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, where he later faced an unrelated allegation involving a minor. The original claim was deemed unsubstantiated.

Raymond C. Plourde

• Settled
  

Personnel files released in December 2002 showed that Plourde admitted initiating a sexual relationship with a twelve-year-old boy in 1976 that lasted approximately two years. In 1990, he reached a private settlement with the victim for about $38,000.

Leo E. Pollard

• Settled
  

Pollard taught at Boston College High School and Fairfield Preparatory School in Connecticut. He was included on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Steven W. Poitras

• Laicized
  

Poitras was removed from St. Michael’s Parish in Hudson after a sexual abuse allegation surfaced and was placed on sick leave. Although the allegation was later found unsubstantiated, he was laicized in 2018 following administrative proceedings.

James F. Power

• Settled
  

Power was accused in 1992 of sexually molesting a thirteen-year-old boy during a camping trip to Maine in the 1980s. A $35,000 settlement was reached in 1996. He was granted retired status and later restricted privileges in 2009.

Raymond A. Prybis

• Accused
  

Prybis was accused in 1992 of exposing himself to a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy in a Boston parish during the mid-1980s and directing the boy to strike him with a belt while he was naked. The allegation was addressed administratively.

Dennis Raeihle

• Settled
  

Raeihle was one of three living religious named on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian. The allegations were resolved through civil settlement.

Henry J. Rancourt

• Settled
  

Rancourt was anonymously accused in 1992 of kissing and molesting Haitian boys at a Boston parish school. He also served in parishes in North Easton, New Bedford, and Vineyard Haven. The allegations were resolved through settlement.

Redmond H. Raux

• Settled
  

Raux was accused of molesting a boy in 1987. The allegation was either found unsubstantiated or resulted in acquittal through canonical process. He was later appointed Dean for the European Vicariate of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

Anthony J. Rebeiro

• Sued
  

Ordained at the Vatican and originally from Goa, Rebeiro served in Italy and Paris before being incardinated into the Archdiocese of Boston in 1977. Allegations later asserted sexual abuse involving multiple teenage girls, boys, and adult women across different periods of ministry. The claims were pursued through civil litigation rather than criminal proceedings, with the misconduct spanning both domestic and international assignments.

Michael J. Regan

• Settled
  

Between 1977 and 1980, Regan was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl who was between fourteen and seventeen years old at the time. The allegations surfaced years later and were addressed through a civil lawsuit. The case concluded in late 2021 with a settlement in the high five figures.

Joseph P. Reilly

• Accused
  

Reilly faced allegations of kissing and groping two altar boys and a sixteen-year-old altar boy, as well as digitally raping a prepubescent girl between 1961 and 1963. He died before any canonical review or criminal investigation reached completion, leaving the allegations unresolved within formal adjudicatory processes.

Lucien J. Richard

• Sued
  

In November 2005, Richard was sued over allegations involving sexual abuse of twin daughters he acknowledged fathering. While he admitted paternity and stated he paid child support, he denied committing sexual abuse. The matter proceeded solely through civil court without criminal charges being filed.

Eugene Riordan

• Settled
  

While assigned to Queen of Apostles Seminary in Dedham, Massachusetts, Riordan was accused of sexually abusing a girl aged thirteen to fourteen during 1961 and 1962. The claim remained unresolved for decades before being settled in 2020 through a civil agreement in the mid–five figures.

Charles J. Ring

• Accused
  

Ring was publicly identified as accused on May 7, 2019, through disclosures by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian. He had died on June 14, 1986. The allegation emerged posthumously and was incorporated into broader public documentation of clergy abuse cases.

Leo Thomas Riley

• Accused
  

A former student reported that Riley sexually abused him over a four-year span in the late 1950s while he attended Elm Bank Minor Seminary. Riley was transferred following the complaint, and the religious order later acknowledged awareness of the original allegation at the time it was raised.

Julian Edward Rondeau

• Accused
  

Rondeau admitted to sexually abusing a girl and her sister when both were ten years old. Following disclosure, administrative records altered his ordination year from 1945 to 1971, reflecting corrective action taken after the abuse became known.

James P. Robichaud

• Settled
  

Robichaud relocated to Maine in 2000 and was formally incardinated into the Diocese of Portland in 2003. He died by suicide in 2008. Abuse-related claims connected to his ministry were resolved through settlement, and his name was omitted from the Archdiocese of Boston database published in 2011.

George J. Rosenkranz

• Sued
  

After multiple allegations of sexual abuse of minors, Rosenkranz was involuntarily laicized in 2007. His name appeared on a Boston Globe list identifying forty-eight priests removed from the clergy directory in 2003 following disclosure of abuse-related allegations.

Barry Robinson

• Accused
  

Originally from Australia, Robinson ministered in East Melbourne and later in Santiago, Chile. He was placed on leave after admitting to a therapist that he had engaged in sexual relations with a sixteen-year-old boy. Robinson died on October 10, 2014, following the administrative response.

Allan E. Roche

• Settled
  

Roche’s niece informed church officials that he sexually abused her during the 1950s, though no action was taken at the time. In 1997, Roche admitted the abuse and entered into a financial settlement with her, resolving the claim through civil agreement decades after the misconduct.

George Roulier

• Accused
  

Known as Rusty Roulier, he was accused in 2002 of sexually abusing a boy in 1983 while assigned to St. Angela’s Parish in Mattapan. A second allegation in 2004 accused him of abusing a youth in 1979 at Immaculate Conception Parish in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Sylvio L. Ruest

• Settled
  

Ruest was accused of sexually abusing a boy aged thirteen to fourteen in Bellingham during 1957 and 1958. The allegation was addressed through civil litigation and resolved with a settlement reported in the high five figures.

John P. Salvucci

• Settled
  

Salvucci resolved allegations of sexual abuse through a civil settlement announced by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian. The settlement amount was reported to be in the high five figures, concluding the claim without criminal prosecution.

Robert Ryer

• Settled
  

Ryer died on April 30, 1967, and was later named among forty priests identified in lawsuits filed by seventy plaintiffs alleging clergy sexual abuse. The claims involving him were addressed through collective civil settlements reached years after his death.

Frederick J. Ryan

• Sued
  

Placed on leave in 2002 following a lawsuit, Ryan faced allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor. Claims included abuse of his brother at Most Precious Blood Parish in Hyde Park in 1970 and abuse of two students at Catholic Memorial High School, all pursued through civil litigation.

William J. Scanlan

• Accused
  

Internal church records show that by 1987, concerns about Scanlan’s behavior around children were already documented in his personnel file. Nearly a decade later, in 1996, a formal allegation accused him of raping a twelve-year-old girl. The earlier notation suggests prior awareness within church administration before the later accusation surfaced.

Paul Fitzpatrick Russell

• Sued
  

Russell was accused of sexually abusing a twelve-year-old boy while assigned to St. Mary of the Sacred Heart in Lynn. He denied the allegation. Following the claim, he was placed on restricted ministerial duties rather than removed from ministry entirely.

Paul P. Rynne

• Sued
  

Rynne’s personnel file reflects allegations of inappropriate behavior involving a seventeen-year-old in 1986. Separate claims later alleged that he abused or raped a boy during the 1960s. After a 1994 allegation became known, he was placed on leave and subsequently retired in 1996.

James C. Shaughnessey

• Settled
  

Ordained for the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Shaughnessey served in the Archdiocese of Boston from 1945 until 1977. He died in 1989. No allegations were publicly known during his lifetime, but his name later appeared in settlement records connected to clergy abuse litigation.

Paul R. Shanley

• Convicted
  

Shanley was involuntarily laicized in 2004 following criminal proceedings. He was convicted of sexually abusing a young boy during the 1980s and sentenced to twelve to fifteen years in prison. He was released on probation in 2017. His name appeared on the Boston Archdiocese’s list of accused clergy in 2011. Shanley died on October 28, 2020, at age eighty-nine.

Francis S. Shea

• Settled
  

Monsignor Shea was included on the Archdiocese of Boston’s list of accused priests and religious released on January 19, 2011. Criminal or canonical proceedings were still unresolved at the time of his death, leaving the allegations formally unadjudicated.

William B. Shea

• Settled
  

Listed as “awaiting assignment” between 1985 and 1996, Shea retired in 1996 and died in 2005. Allegations against him were later included in settlement records, though criminal or canonical proceedings were not completed before his death.

George M. Sheehan

• Settled
  

Sheehan’s name appeared on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian. The claims connected to him were resolved through civil settlement rather than criminal prosecution.

Edward F. Sherry

• Settled
  

In 2003, a man filed a lawsuit alleging that Sherry fondled and raped him repeatedly between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. The claim was resolved through a settlement reached in 2005.

James T. Sheehan

• Accused
  

Sheehan was publicly named as credibly accused of abuse of a minor in 2002. He admitted to the abuse after the allegation became known, and his status was formally restricted following disclosure.

Mary Mark

• Sued
  

A sixteen-year-old boy accused nine nuns of sexually abusing him in 1958 while he was a student at the Boston School for the Deaf. The lawsuit was dismissed due to statute of limitations constraints, preventing substantive adjudication of the claims.

D. George Spagnolia

• Accused
  

Spagnolia took a leave of absence in 1973 and later returned to ministry in the early 1990s. In 2002, following an allegation of sexual abuse, he was again placed on leave, this time without ministerial privileges.

Nicholas J. Spagnolo

• Accused
  

Spagnolo was accused of molesting teenage girls during the 1960s. Church authorities ordered that he not minister without supervision. Despite this restriction, he continued to organize retreats for lay and religious women.

Leonard F. Stanton

• Sued
  

Ordained for the Archdiocese of Boston, Stanton was later transferred to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He died on April 3, 1997. His name was included among twelve priests identified as alleged abusers in a civil lawsuit filed in September 2002.

Francis V. Strahan

• Charges dropped
  

Monsignor Strahan was placed on administrative leave in October 2019, at age eighty-six, during an investigation into allegations that he raped and sexually assaulted an altar server between ages eleven and thirteen on two occasions between 2004 and 2008. Criminal charges were later dropped.

Andrzej Sujka

• Accused
  

Originally from Poland, Sujka’s only known U.S. assignment was at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Boston, beginning in 1986. He was removed from that parish in October 2001 and placed on leave following an allegation that he molested a twelve-year-old boy in the late 1980s. Shortly after his removal, Sujka returned to Poland. His personnel file was released publicly in December 2002.

Bernard St. Hilaire

• Settled
  

Documentation related to convicted priest Ronald Paquin confirmed a long-term sexual relationship between Paquin and St. Hilaire. Paquin admitted that they shared the same bed for approximately thirty years. St. Hilaire died in 1977, and related matters were later addressed through settlement processes.

Bernard L. Sullivan

• Settled
  

Sullivan was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing an altar boy between ages ten and thirteen from 1970 to 1973 while assigned to St. Catherine of Genoa Parish in Somerville. The lawsuit was settled in June 2021 in the high five figures. Sullivan died in 1985.

Eugene P. Sullivan

• Settled
  

In 2005, a fifteen-year-old boy sued Sullivan, alleging he was molested once while being driven to Camp Fatima in New Hampshire. The lawsuit settled in December 2008 for $475,000. Sullivan was later granted senior priest status in October 2013.

Michael D. Sullivan

• Settled
  

Sullivan was included on a list of accused priests and religious released by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011. He died in September 2005.

John J. Sullivan

• Accused
  

Known as Brother John Augustine, Sullivan joined the Xaverian Brothers in 1934 and died in 1939. He was publicly named as accused by the order on its list released July 12, 2019. An allegation reported in 2002 described abuse occurring in Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1938.

T. Raymond Sullivan

• Settled
  

Sullivan was removed from his assignment at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Dracut in 1992 after a woman accused him of abuse. He remained on leave for roughly eleven months during the Archdiocese’s review and denied the allegation. Church officials later stated they found no conclusive evidence, briefly returned him to ministry, and then reassigned him to another parish. Sullivan died in November 1994. In January 2020, a civil lawsuit was settled, later announced publicly in September 2020, alleging that Sullivan sexually abused a boy around age fourteen during the 1970s while assigned to St. Therese Parish in Dracut. The complaint described at least two incidents occurring in the rectory. The settlement was for a low five-figure amount.

Czeslaw Szymanski

• Accused
  

Szymanski was accused of sexually abusing thirteen altar boys within the Archdiocese of Boston during the 1980s. He died on September 24, 1987. Eight accusers later received a combined payout of $600,000.

C. Melvin Surette

• Settled
  

The first known allegations against Surette surfaced in September 1993. He served as a part-time counselor and later as head of the Alpha-Omega program, which worked with youths experiencing serious behavioral challenges. Claims connected to his conduct were resolved through settlement.

John M. Sweeney

• Settled
  

Sweeney was a member and co-founder of the Franciscans of the Primitive Observance. In May 2019, a thirty-seven-year-old woman publicly accused him of sexually abusing her during a leadership retreat in 2000, when she was a teenager. She alleged that Sweeney heard confessions from her and other teens, told them they were possessed, and conducted purported exorcisms during which the abuse occurred. Reports indicated multiple victims. One civil claim was settled in November 2020. Sweeney was later included on the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s list of accused clergy released on May 19, 2021, which noted his presence at Christ in the Desert in 2011.

Patrick J. Tague

• Sued
  

Tague left active ministry in the late 1960s after a period marked by financial and personal misconduct. He later received a suspended sentence and three years’ probation for embezzling approximately $30,000 from a halfway house for juvenile delinquents. In 1971, he was accused of sexually abusing a boy, an allegation that surfaced after his departure from parish life.

Joseph A. Thibault

• Settled
  

Brother Cuthbert, a member of a religious order, was accused of sexually abusing a male student at Mission High School in Boston during the 1956–1957 school year. He was later included on Baltimore’s list of credibly accused clergy beginning in 2007. Despite the allegation, no disciplinary action was taken at the time.

James F. Talbot

• Convicted
  

Talbot taught at Boston College High School and Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine. Multiple students accused him of sexual abuse. He was convicted of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact, receiving a ten-year prison sentence with an additional three-year concurrent term.

James S. Thompson

• Sued
  

In 2014, records showed that the Irish Christian Brothers faced at least two sexual abuse claims involving Thompson. The allegations centered on abuse of minors connected to the order’s educational institutions.

J. Garrett Thomson

• Accused
  

Thomson was placed on leave following an allegation of sexual abuse. The Archdiocese delayed notifying his parish for nearly ten days after the allegation became known. He was later found dead in his New Hampshire home while the matter remained unresolved.

Ernest E. Tourigney

• Settled
  

Tourigney was accused of maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a youth in 1974. He was placed on leave in 1992, faced two lawsuits in 1995, and settled claims in 2002. He was laicized in 2006.

Louis Toma

• Accused
  

Multiple women reported that Toma sexually abused young girls over the course of his fifty-year tenure as pastor of St. Lazarus Parish in Boston. The allegations spanned decades and described repeated misconduct involving minors.

Paul J. Tivnan

• Accused
  

Tivnan admitted to sexually abusing two boys in the late 1970s and to maintaining a sexual relationship with a fifteen-year-old boy. He was placed on disability leave in 1998 and formally retired in 2001.

Robert K. Towner

• Settled
  

After ordination, Towner served in Brookline and Quincy before earning a degree in clinical social work in 1981. He went on leave in 1987, voluntarily left the priesthood in 1990, and later worked in real estate. Allegations of abuse were resolved through settlement.

Eugene Trainor

• Accused
  

Known as Brother Hart, Trainor joined the Xaverians in 1955 and left the order in 1973. He was later named publicly as accused by the order in 2019. The allegation involved abuse reported in 2003, said to have occurred in Westwood, Massachusetts, in the early 1970s. He is deceased.

Robert Turnbull

• Settled
  

Turnbull was sued in 2001 for sexually abusing two brothers at Austin Preparatory School and at a cabin in New Hampshire. He had died in 2000, prior to the resolution of the civil litigation.

Andrzej J. Urbaniak

• Arrested
  

Urbaniak, pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Boston, was arrested on charges related to downloading pornography. He pleaded not guilty. His ministerial privileges were removed following the arrest.

James J. Tully

• Settled
  

Tully was accused of providing alcohol to three boys and sexually grabbing one of them during a baseball game. He was sent to Rome and later laicized for sexual misconduct involving minors.

Anthony J. Vasaturo

• Accused
  

Vasaturo allegedly admitted to engaging in sexual activity with a sixteen-year-old girl beginning in 1969. The allegation was either deemed unsubstantiated or resolved through a canonical acquittal.

Joseph P. Veneto

• Settled
  

Veneto supervised Denis Conte and was later included on a list of accused priests and religious published by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian. Claims connected to his conduct were settled.

James P. Walsh

• Accused
  

Walsh was named publicly as credibly accused by the Jesuits Northeast Province in 2019. He was also included on the Fall River Diocese’s list of accused clergy in 2021.

John J. Walsh

• Settled
  

A woman reported that Walsh sexually abused her twice in 1973 or 1974 while assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was frequently reassigned throughout his career, serving in multiple dioceses.

Leonard Thomas Walsh

• Settled
  

Walsh was accused of sexually abusing a nine-year-old boy in Massachusetts in 1953. He died the following year, in 1954.

Michael Walsh

• Sued
  

A member of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers, Walsh was accused of taking nude and sexually explicit photographs of boys during a camping trip around 1986. Civil litigation followed.

Martin J. Walsh

• Settled
  

Walsh was accused of sexually abusing a fourteen-year-old boy in 1975. The Review Board concluded the allegation could not be substantiated. By 2002, he was on permanent disability but had sought a return to ministry.

William M. Walsh

• Settled
  

One abuse case involving Walsh was settled in 2007. His personnel file also contained allegations of abuse at Blessed Sacrament Parish and St. Mary of the Annunciation Church in Danvers. He was placed on leave in 2004 pending further investigation.

Michael Walsh

• Charged
  

Walsh, age sixty-five, was charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on a child, allegedly committed in the late 1980s and early 1990s while serving as altar boy coordinator at St. Brendan’s Parish in Dorchester. He pleaded not guilty.

William F. Waters

• Accused
  

Waters was publicly accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of eight and ten from 1987 to 1990. After an independent investigation found no supporting evidence, he was reinstated in April 2020.

Robert A. Ward

• Accused
  

The Archdiocese was aware by 1995 that Ward used cocaine and had received treatment for substance abuse. In June 1999, a computer technician discovered child pornography on Ward’s computer. He was evaluated and placed on leave, then reassigned to the Archdiocese’s development office in January 2001. In February 2002, a man alleged that Ward had sexually abused him as an altar boy in the mid-1970s, after which Ward was suspended from ministry. Ward sought voluntary laicization in 2004, which was announced publicly in 2005. As of October 2008, he was living in Pembroke, Massachusetts. The Archdiocese’s August 2011 list notes that the case was concluded through canonical process.

Joseph L. Welsh

• Accused
  

Church officials were warned in 1993 and again in 2001 that Welsh had abused children in two separate parishes. Despite these warnings, he was promoted in 1997. He was finally removed from ministry in 2002 after three brothers reported abuse spanning roughly twenty years.

John J. White

• Accused
  

White was a close friend, business partner, and frequent traveling companion of later convicted priest Paul Shanley. He was accused of abusing the same boy during the 1970s, overlapping with allegations involving Shanley.

Paul White

• Settled
  

A woman accused White of sexually abusing her in the late 1960s. The claim was resolved through settlement. White is deceased.

Kevin R. White

• Charged
  

White was criminally charged with raping a student at Boston College High School. Prior to the charge, he worked internationally with Jesuit Refugee Services, including assignments in South Sudan and Uganda.

James L. Wilson

• Settled
  

Personnel records show Wilson was accused of molesting a boy in 1991–1992. The claim was settled in 1995 for approximately $200,000. Wilson was later laicized in 1998.

Paul David White

• Settled
  

White removed himself from parish ministry around 1970 and later taught in a public school in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was formally placed on leave in 1972. In 1998, a former altar boy filed suit alleging abuse by White between 1964 and 1971. The case was settled.

Diocese of Fall River MA

Manuel Andrade Jr.

• Accused
  

Andrade was named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fall River on its January 2021 list. The diocese identified allegations involving abuse of a minor or minors. Andrade died in 1995. No canonical resolution was completed prior to his death.

Armando Andrew Annunziato

• Accused
  

Annunziato was listed by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2021 as credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor or minors. He died on August 31, 1993. Public disclosure occurred decades after his death.

Jose Maria B. Avila (also known as George Avellar)

• Accused
  

Avila was among 21 priests publicly named by the Bristol County District Attorney in September 2002. Prosecutors indicated he may have abused more than 100 children over a 44-year clerical career. The scope and duration of the allegations placed him among the most prolific accused priests associated with the diocese.

William F. Baker

• Accused
  

Baker was named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2021. His faculties were removed at some point prior to disclosure. He was formally laicized in 2015.

H. Stanley Barney

• Accused
  

Barney was investigated by the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office for sexual abuse allegations. Prosecutors declined to bring charges. His name nonetheless appears in diocesan disclosures related to abuse investigations.

Adrien E. Bernier

• Accused
  

Bernier was named as credibly accused on the Diocese of Fall River’s January 2021 list. He died in 1989. No criminal proceedings were pursued during his lifetime.

Albert Berube

• Accused
  

Berube was included on the September 2002 District Attorney list of 21 accused Fall River priests. The list identified one alleged victim. Berube died on June 26, 1973, at approximately 80 years old.

William Boffa

• Accused
  

Boffa served in multiple influential roles, including parish priest, high school chaplain, camp and retreat house director, and CYO director. He was later named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Fall River.

Normand J. Boulet

• Accused
  

Boulet was included on the District Attorney’s list of 21 accused priests. His priestly faculties were removed following the allegations. No criminal conviction is noted in public records.

Donald J. Bowen

• Convicted
  

Bowen sexually abused a girl between the ages of nine and sixteen during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail, ten years’ probation, and sex offender registration. Bowen was laicized in 2007.

James F. Buckley

• Settled
  

Buckley retired in 2001 and was suspended in January 2020 after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor decades earlier. A civil claim was settled in August 2023 for a five-figure amount.

Edward J. Byington

• Accused
  

Byington retired in 2006. He was suspended in 2020 following an allegation that he abused a sixteen-year-old boy in 1971. A separate allegation involving abuse of a twelve-year-old boy in 1976 was settled in 2023.

George R. Carrier

• Accused
  

Carrier was named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2021. He died in 2004.

Charles Cavanagh

• Accused
  

Cavanagh, a Greek-Melkite priest, was included on the Diocese of Fall River’s January 2021 list of accused clergy. He was assigned at one point to Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich.

James A. Clark

• Accused
  

Clark was named publicly as accused in January 2021. He was laicized in 2000 and died in 2011.

Paul G. Connolly

• Accused
  

Connolly was accused of abusing at least eleven altar boys during the 1960s. He was suspended from ministry in 1992. Connolly died in 2007 and was later included on the diocese’s list of credibly accused clergy.

John P. Cronin

• Accused
  

Cronin appeared on a list of priests investigated by the District Attorney for sexual misconduct. He was reassigned to oversee cemeteries with restrictions. After additional allegations surfaced in the mid-1990s, his faculties were removed.

Richard Degagne

• Settled
  

Degagne was placed on leave in November 2019 pending an investigation into misconduct alleged to have occurred prior to ordination. The allegations involved sexual abuse of a boy in 1972–1973 while Degagne served as a counselor at Cathedral Camp in Freetown.

Alexander Delgado

• Acquitted
  

Delgado was accused of raping a woman at a religious retreat and was acquitted by a jury. He had previously pleaded guilty in 1997 to molesting a thirteen-year-old girl in an unrelated matter.

Arthur T. DeMello

• Accused
  

DeMello’s name appeared on the September 2002 list of 21 priests accused of abuse released by the Bristol County District Attorney.

Arthur C. dos Reis

• Accused
  

Originally from São Vicente Ferreira, São Miguel, Azores, dos Reis was named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2021. He died in May 1981.

J. Arthur G. Dupuis

• Accused
  

Dupuis was elevated to Monsignor in 1967. He was named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2021 and died in 1975.

Hugo Dylla

• Accused
  

Dylla was ordained in Poland and later served in the Diocese of Fall River. He was named publicly as accused on the diocese’s January 2021 list. Dylla died in 1966.

James W. Fahey

• Accused
  

Fahey was named publicly as credibly accused in January 2021. His faculties were restricted during his lifetime. He died in 2016.

Stephen A. Fernandes

• Convicted
  

Fernandes was arrested in November 2004 after a computer technician discovered child pornography on his laptop. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight months in prison, four years’ probation, and a $20,000 fine.

Bento R. Fraga

• Accused
  

After retiring in 2005, Fraga was accused of molesting a minor. He denied the allegations. The accuser declined to pursue criminal charges.

Albert A. Fredette

• Accused
  

Fredette, a priest of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, was named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Fall River.

Stephen R. Furtado

• Accused
  

Furtado, pastor of Holy Ghost Parish, was placed on leave in 2002 after allegations surfaced dating back roughly twenty years. He died in 2016.

Rene Gaudin

• Accused
  

Gaudin was listed on a roster of accused priests and religious published by the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian on January 19, 2011.

John A. Gomes

• Accused
  

Gomes was added in August 2022 to the Diocese of Fall River’s list of credibly accused clergy. The alleged abuse occurred decades earlier. His faculties were restricted.

Angelo Michael Guarin

• Accused
  

Guarin, a priest of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, was named publicly as credibly accused in January 2021. He was assigned to Our Lady’s Chapel in New Bedford. His faculties were revoked.

Hernando Herrera

• Accused
  

Herrera was placed on leave following allegations of inappropriate conduct with two minors. He was later laicized.

Mark R. Hession

• Indicted
  

Hession was indicted on charges of rape and indecent assault of a person under fourteen. He was suspended from the priesthood in 2019.

Phillip J. Higgins

• Accused
  

Higgins appeared on the September 2002 District Attorney list of accused priests. One alleged victim came forward, but claims were beyond the statute of limitations. Higgins was removed from ministry in 2004 and died in 2007.

Cornelius J. Keliher

• Accused
  

Keliher retired in 1981 and died on June 9, 1993. He served as pastor of St. Mary’s in Seekonk from 1956 to 1971. He was included on the diocese’s January 2021 list of credibly accused clergy.

Robert S. Kaszynski

• Accused
  

Kaszynski resigned in March 2002 after allegations of sexual misconduct involving two teenage girls. A third woman made separate allegations later that year.

Andrzej Jacek Kozanko

• Accused
  

Originally from Poland, Kozanko served as a parish priest and hospital chaplain. While in seminary, he worked summers as a counselor at Cathedral Camp in East Freetown. He was named publicly as credibly accused in January 2021, and his faculties were restricted.

Michael J. Kossak

• Accused
  

Kossak was alleged to have engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with students at Boston College High School. He received a warning from the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, was transferred to parishes in Florida, returned to Boston in 1999, and was later dismissed from the Jesuits West Province.

Daniel W. Lacroix

• Accused
  

Lacroix was placed on leave pending investigation into misconduct allegations. He later filed a defamation lawsuit against Bishop Edgar da Cunha.

David J. Landry

• Accused
  

Landry was identified in September 2002 on a list of 21 priests of the Diocese of Fall River investigated by the Bristol County District Attorney following allegations of sexual misconduct. That list indicated one alleged victim, with claims falling outside the statute of limitations. In January 2021, the Diocese of Fall River publicly named Landry as credibly accused on its diocesan list, which also noted that his priestly faculties had been removed.

Maurice T. Lebel

• Accused
  

Lebel, a Jesuit priest, was placed on leave in 2007 while allegations were investigated that he sexually abused a youth in the early 1980s.

Joseph D. Maguire

• Accused
  

Maguire was named publicly as credibly accused in January 2021. His faculties were removed, and he was laicized in 2007.

Raymond W. McCarthy

• Accused
  

McCarthy was ordained for the Diocese of Fall River in 1945 and served in multiple parishes across the diocese. In September 2002, the Bristol County District Attorney publicly named McCarthy among Fall River diocesan priests accused of sexual crimes; the listing indicated four separate accusations. McCarthy died in November 2005 in Missouri. His obituary states that he relocated to the St. Louis area in the early 1970s, where he founded a counseling center in Clayton and continued presiding at Mass in parishes throughout the region.

Donald E. Messier

• Accused
  

Messier’s name appeared on the September 2002 list released by the Bristol County District Attorney identifying 21 priests accused of sexual abuse. The list indicated one alleged victim, with claims determined to be beyond the statute of limitations. Messier left the Diocese of Fall River in 1973 and subsequently worked in the Diocese of Providence. He was later included on the Diocese of Fall River’s January 2021 list of credibly accused clergy. His faculties were noted to be restricted.

James E. Murphy

• Accused
  

Murphy was publicly identified in September 2002 on a list released by the Bristol County District Attorney naming 21 Fall River diocesan priests accused of sexual abuse. The entry attributed three alleged victims to Murphy, with claims determined to fall outside the statute of limitations. No criminal prosecution followed, and the disclosure centered on historical allegations reviewed during the District Attorney’s investigation.

Bruce Neylon

• Accused
  

Neylon served as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish before being suspended following an allegation that he sexually abused a boy described as age fourteen or fifteen. The diocese removed him from active ministry pending review of the claim. No criminal outcome is noted in the record, and the allegation prompted administrative action rather than a public trial.

Herbert T. Nichols

• Accused
  

Nichols was publicly named as accused by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2020 after a personnel file review identified an allegation that he had abused a minor approximately twenty years earlier. He was suspended from ministry following the review. Nichols denied the allegation, and the diocese disclosed the matter as part of its broader release of accused clergy names.

James R. Nickel

• Settled
  

Nickel was accused by eight men of sexual abuse during the 1970s and 1980s, allegations that led the Diocese of Fall River to settle a civil lawsuit. His name also appears on accused clergy lists maintained by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, reflecting abuse claims tied to multiple jurisdictions and time periods.

William W. Norton

• Accused
  

Norton was named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fall River on January 7, 2021. He taught at Bishop Stang High School from 1969 to 1971 and served as director of St. Mary’s Home for Children in 1970. The diocesan listing identified historical abuse allegations. Norton died in 2004.

Thomas E. O’Dea

• Accused
  

In 1993, a man alleged that O’Dea sexually abused him during the 1960s, naming James Porter as another perpetrator. The Diocese of Fall River’s review board examined the claim and unanimously concluded there was insufficient evidence of improper activity. The allegation nonetheless became part of the diocese’s internal abuse review record.

John W. Pegnam

• Accused
  

Pegnam was publicly identified as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fall River on its January 2021 list. The diocese provided no detailed public narrative of the allegations beyond confirming their credibility under diocesan standards. Pegnam died in 1996, decades before the public release of the accused clergy list.

James R. Porter

• Guilty plea
  

Porter was laicized in 1974, later married, and had four children. He admitted to abusing hundreds of children in Massachusetts and Minnesota and served four months in prison. Porter pleaded guilty to abusing twenty-eight children in Massachusetts. In 2013, a woman filed a civil suit in Minnesota alleging rape of a former New Mexico altar boy.

Justin J. Quinn

• Accused
  

Quinn served as a parish priest, director of Holy Family High School, and a prominent authority figure at St. Mary’s Home for Children. Allegations of sexual abuse emerged connected to his work with minors in institutional settings. The record reflects his inclusion among Fall River clergy accused of misconduct involving children, though no criminal disposition is specified.

Edward A. Rausch

• Accused
  

Rausch appeared on the September 2002 list released by the Bristol County District Attorney identifying Fall River diocesan priests accused of sexual abuse. He publicly denied ever harming anyone. The disclosure arose from prosecutorial review of historical allegations rather than a criminal filing or court adjudication.

Raymond A. Robillard

• Accused
  

Robillard was named on the District Attorney’s September 2002 list of 21 Fall River priests accused of abuse. Following the emergence of allegations, he left his role as chaplain at the Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Home and later worked as an assistant diocesan archivist. No criminal prosecution is recorded in connection with the allegations.

William J. Shovelton

• Accused
  

Shovelton retired from ministry in 1993 and was later publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Fall River in January 2021. He had been residing in Lady Lake, Florida, prior to his death on January 31, 2015. The diocesan listing disclosed historical abuse allegations without further public detail.

Gilbert J. Simoes

• Accused
  

Simoes was suspended and had his faculties removed in March 1986 after the diocese became aware of sexual abuse allegations. Despite removal from ministry, he later worked as a regular substitute teacher at Falmouth High School from 1989 through the 1997–1998 school year. The allegations remained part of the diocesan abuse record.

Maurice Souza

• Settled
  

The Diocese of Fall River reported first learning of abuse allegations against Souza in 2012. A civil claim was pursued, with the plaintiff’s attorney indicating attempted mediation before settlement discussions collapsed. The matter ultimately resolved through settlement, reflecting allegations of sexual abuse brought decades after the alleged conduct.

Kevin F. Tripp

• Accused
  

Tripp was accused of sexual abuse by two individuals and was laicized in 2020. He had previously been named on the September 2002 District Attorney list of 21 accused Fall River priests. Records indicate he was living in Santa Rosa, California, as of April 2020 following removal from ministry.

Richard J. Wolf

• Accused
  

Wolf was publicly identified as credibly accused by the Jesuits Northeast Province on January 15, 2019. The disclosure related to historical allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. Wolf had died in 1986, and the public acknowledgment occurred decades after his death as part of the Jesuits’ release of accused members.

Diocese of Springfield MA

Ralph Herbert Adair

• Accused
  

Adair was publicly identified as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. The diocesan disclosure states that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred in 1984. No criminal proceedings are noted in the record. Adair died on February 28, 1992, decades before the diocese released its list of credibly accused clergy.

William Edward F. Allen

• Accused
  

Allen was named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. He departed the diocese in 1954 and later became director of Don Bosco Boys’ Home in Cottonport, Louisiana. The diocesan listing associates him with the sexual abuse of a minor, though no criminal adjudication or civil settlement is recorded in the provided summary.

Paul J. Archambault

• Settled
  

Archambault served as chaplain at Baystate Medical Center and part-time parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Hampden. After being confronted with allegations of sexual abuse, he died by suicide on July 3, 2011. A twenty-year-old man subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Springfield and the parish pastor, and the matter was resolved through settlement.

Henry J. Auger

• Accused
  

Auger was accused of sexually abusing a minor while serving in the Worcester diocese. No criminal prosecution is recorded in the summary. He died in 1968. His name later appeared in diocesan abuse records as part of historical disclosures addressing misconduct involving minors.

Edward George Authier

• Accused
  

Authier was accused of sexual abuse by a man who later came forward at age sixty-seven. The same complainant also alleged abuse by Bishop Weldon and Rev. Clarence Forand. Authier died in 1970. The allegations emerged decades after the alleged conduct and were included in later diocesan reviews of historical abuse claims.

Gerald R. Beauregard

• Settled
  

Joseph Rosario Gerald Beauregard was accused of sexually abusing a minor during the 1940s. The allegation was addressed through civil settlement. The record does not indicate criminal prosecution. Beauregard’s case later formed part of the Diocese of Springfield’s broader accounting of historical abuse allegations involving clergy.

George A. Berthiaume

• Sued
  

Berthiaume was accused by a man who also alleged abuse as a minor by multiple priests and two bishops. The claims against Berthiaume were reviewed and ultimately deemed not credible by the Worcester diocese. Despite the lawsuit, no criminal or canonical penalties are noted in the available summary.

Albert Rene Blanchard

• Settled
  

Blanchard was accused by a woman who reported that she sought counseling from him in 1971 when she was fifteen years old. In 2009, she renewed her complaint after learning he was serving as a volunteer social worker and spiritual care coordinator for a diocesan resource group. The claim was resolved through settlement.

John J. Bonzagni

• Settled
  

In 2003, a woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging Bonzagni fondled her on three occasions when she was sixteen and preparing for confirmation. The claims were settled in 2004. Following settlement, the Diocese of Springfield stated that Bonzagni had been cleared under its internal review process.

Paul T. Boudreau

• Settled
  

Boudreau was suspended in 1991 after having been on leave for several years. At least one claim against him was included in a 2004 global settlement totaling $7.5 million between the Diocese of Springfield and forty-five claimants involving eighteen priests. He reportedly abandoned the priesthood following suspension.

J. Victor Carrier

• Accused
  

Carrier was publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield in October 2023. The diocese reported that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred between 1981 and 1982 while Carrier was assigned to St. Rose de Lima Parish in Chicopee. He died on February 17, 2011.

Donald A. Desilets

• Settled
  

Desilets was barred from public ministry in the early 1990s following abuse allegations. He later joined the Sulpician Fathers in Montreal, where he assisted in preparing young men for the priesthood. The allegations against him were resolved through settlement. Desilets died in 2001.

Michael H. Devlin

• Settled
  

Devlin was placed on leave in 2004 and named in a civil lawsuit filed in 2005 alleging sexual abuse of a minor. He denied the allegations. The case concluded with a settlement reported at $4.5 million, resolving multiple claims involving clergy of the Diocese of Springfield.

Frederick George Dion

• Settled
  

Dion was accused of sexually abusing a minor in 1957. At least one claim involving him was included in the Diocese of Springfield’s $4.5 million settlement with fifty-nine plaintiffs in November 2008. He was publicly named as credibly accused on June 2, 2021. Dion died in 1991.

Bernard L. Doheny

• Sued
  

Monsignor Doheny was accused of sexually abusing a boy over a four-year period beginning when the child was ten years old. The complainant also alleged abuse by family members, priests, and two bishops. Doheny faced civil litigation, and the allegations became part of diocesan abuse records.

John Paul Donahue

• Accused
  

Donahue was publicly named as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021, with multiple credible allegations of sexual abuse dating to 1961 and 1962. He worked in the diocese until 1962, then served as a U.S. Air Force chaplain until his death at age thirty-seven on February 16, 1971.

Jude Dowling

• Accused
  

Dowling was named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. He worked in the diocese from 1978 to 1993. Multiple allegations reported abuse occurring during two periods, 1969–1975 and 1980–1985. Dowling died on October 17, 2001.

Eugene Adalbert Dranka

• Settled
  

Two individuals settled claims against Dranka as part of a 2004 $7.5 million settlement involving eighteen priests of the Diocese of Springfield. Dranka was the first priest to be publicly identified during the diocese’s early disclosures addressing clergy sexual abuse allegations.

Donald V. Dube

• Settled
  

Dube was removed from parish ministry in 1994 due to sexual misconduct. His priestly privileges were fully removed in 2002. In 2004, one individual filed a lawsuit against Dube’s estate, and the claim was resolved through settlement.

W. Francois Dufresne

• Accused
  

Dufresne was publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. The diocese reported that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred in 1955. Dufresne died in 1983, long before the public disclosure of the allegation.

Thomas Ludger Dupre

• Settled
  

Dupre served as Auxiliary Bishop beginning in 1990 and as Bishop of Springfield from 1995 to 2004. He was sued for alleged sexual abuse of two youths in the 1970s and 1980s. Dupre contributed financially to the diocese’s $4.5 million settlement with fifty-nine plaintiffs.

John F. Egan

• Accused
  

Egan was publicly identified as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield, with allegations indicating abuse occurring between 1954 and 1955. No criminal prosecution is noted in the record. Egan died in 1974.

David M. Farland

• Accused
  

Farland was permanently removed from ministry in 2002 following allegations of sexual abuse of a minor in the early 1990s. The diocese imposed a life of prayer and penance. His removal reflected internal canonical discipline rather than criminal adjudication.

Joseph Clarence W. Forand

• Settled
  

A man reported that Forand sexually abused him for several years beginning when he was eight or nine years old. The Diocese of Springfield deemed the allegations credible and placed Forand under a life of prayer and penance. The matter was addressed through settlement.

Oscar A. Gatineau

• Sued
  

Gatineau was sued by a man who alleged sexual abuse lasting approximately one year during his childhood. The Diocese of Springfield stated that it did not find the allegations credible. The dispute proceeded as civil litigation without noted criminal charges.

Lawrence Gauthier

• Sued
  

In 2002, a man filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Gauthier had sexually abused him. The claim became part of the Diocese of Springfield’s civil abuse docket. No criminal outcome is described in the summary.

Daniel L. Gill

• Settled
  

Gill was accused by a woman who reported that he sexually abused her beginning on the day of her First Communion in the late 1960s and continuing until she was twelve. A parishioner confronted Gill in 1977 after a fourteen-year-old girl made a similar allegation. Gill died in 1995, and the claims were later settled.

Alfred C. Graves

• Settled
  

One claim involving Graves was included in a 2004 settlement covering eighteen priests. In September 2009, a new lawsuit alleged that two former bishops knowingly allowed Graves to sexually abuse a boy between 1982 and 1984, expanding scrutiny of his case beyond the initial settlement.

Timothy Joseph Hallahan

• Accused
  

Hallahan was publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. The diocese reported that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred between 1967 and 1968. Hallahan died in 2013.

Earl Albert Victor Hebert

• Accused
  

Hebert was accused of sexually abusing a child in 1972. No criminal proceedings are described in the summary. Hebert died on November 2, 2015, at the age of ninety-two.

Ernest Karl Huller

• Settled
  

Two men filed separate civil lawsuits alleging that Huller abused them while they were students at Cathedral High School in Springfield. In 2004, the Diocese of Springfield settled with forty-six clergy abuse victims for more than $7 million, including two plaintiffs who accused Huller.

Placid Kaczorek

• Accused
  

Kaczorek was publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. He worked in the diocese from 1970 to 2001. The diocese reported abuse allegations spanning 1973 to 1981. Kaczorek died in 2016.

Joseph Roy Jenness

• Settled
  

Four brothers filed a civil lawsuit in 2003 alleging sexual abuse by Jenness and four other priests between 1967 and 1983. One claim involving Jenness was resolved as part of the Diocese of Springfield’s 2004 $7.5 million settlement with forty-five claimants.

Maurice P. Karam

• Accused
  

Karam was publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield in June 2021. The diocesan disclosure states that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred in 1967–1968 while he was assigned to St. Anthony’s Church of the Maronite Rite in Springfield. No criminal case is noted in the public record. Karam died in 2013.

Vernon Kelly

• Settled
  

Kelly, also known as John, was accused of sexually abusing a minor in 1965. Church records indicate he was laicized in 1967. The allegation was addressed through settlement. No criminal prosecution is reflected in the available summary.

John Earl Kelty

• Accused
  

Kelty was publicly identified as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. He was assigned to San Damiano Friary in Holyoke during 1981–1982. The diocese reports allegations of sexual abuse of a minor occurring in the 1980s. Kelty died in 1993.

Edward Michael Kennedy

• Settled
  

Kennedy was placed on leave in 1991 and sent for treatment in 1994. He was removed from public ministry in 2002. At least three civil suits were filed against him in 2003 and 2004. Kennedy was laicized in 2006. The claims were resolved through settlement. He died on November 2, 2018.

John R. Klekotka

• Accused
  

Klekotka was named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Springfield in June 2021. The diocese reports that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred between 1963 and 1970. Klekotka died in 1974.

Richard L. Kirouac

• Accused
  

Kirouac was a priest of the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy. He was assigned from 2001 to 2003 to Sts. Patrick and Raphael Parish in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Multiple credible allegations of sexual abuse were later reported. His name was included in public disclosures addressing clergy abuse.

John Anthony Koonz

• Settled
  

Three men accused Koonz of sexually abusing them when they were teenagers. The Diocesan Misconduct Commission found the allegations credible. Koonz was removed from all ministry, and the claims were resolved through settlement.

Jeffrey L’Arche

• Accused
  

L’Arche, a priest of the LaSalette Missionaries, was placed on leave after allegations that he sexually abused a minor in Massachusetts between 1976 and 1981. No criminal disposition is noted in the summary.

Gerard A. Lafleur

• Accused
  

Lafleur died in 2011. He was publicly named as credibly accused by the Diocese of Springfield in March 2022. The diocese reports that the alleged sexual abuse of a minor occurred in 1974.

Francis Patrick Lavelle

• Settled
  

Two men filed civil suits alleging sexual abuse by Lavelle when they were teenagers. Four brothers also filed suit claiming abuse by Lavelle and four other priests between 1967 and 1983. Lavelle was permanently barred from ministry in 2004. His cases were addressed through civil settlement.

Richard Roger Lavigne

• Convicted
  

Lavigne was arrested and charged with sexually abusing five boys. He was convicted of assaulting two boys and sentenced to four to six years in jail, suspended, along with ten years of probation. He was also a prime suspect in the 1972 murder of altar boy Danny Croteau, though no conviction resulted in that case.

Timothy J. Leary

• Settled
  

Monsignor Leary was accused of sexually abusing a boy over a five-year period beginning when the child was in fourth grade. Leary died in 1991 at age eighty-one. The allegation was resolved through settlement.

Jordan Loiselle

• Accused
  

Loiselle was publicly named as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. He worked in the diocese during 1947–1949 and again from 1970 to 1996. Multiple credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors were reported, with abuse occurring in 1988. Loiselle died in 1996.

Ronald Raoul Malboeuf

• Settled
  

Malboeuf was removed from ministry in 1988 after a man alleged he had been sexually abused over five years beginning at age ten. Malboeuf was voluntarily laicized in 1989. The claim was settled. He died in 2009.

James A. Martone

• Accused
  

Martone, a deacon, was placed on leave following allegations of child sexual abuse. He was permanently removed from ministry and later included on a public list of credibly accused clergy.

Thomas James McCarthy

• Settled
  

McCarthy was accused of sexually abusing a minor during the period 1954–1957. The claim was resolved through settlement. McCarthy died in 2003.

James Daniel McKenna

• Accused
  

A woman reported to the Diocese of Springfield that McKenna sexually abused her over an eighteen-month period beginning in the early 1970s while he was assigned to St. Francis Parish in South Lee. No settlement or criminal outcome is noted in the summary.

John Davitt McNamara

• Settled
  

At least one claim involving McNamara was included in the Diocese of Springfield’s $4.5 million settlement with fifty-nine plaintiffs in November 2008. He was added to the diocese’s list of accused clergy in June 2021. The alleged abuse occurred in 1980–1981. McNamara died in 1990.

James Paul Menge

• Settled
  

Menge retired in June 2000 and died in August 2010. At least one claim against him was included in the Diocese’s November 2008 $4.5 million settlement. In September 2021, he was added to the diocese’s list of credibly accused, which notes multiple allegations.

Richard Francis Meehan

• Settled
  

Meehan was removed from parish ministry in 1994 due to sexual misconduct. He was named in a civil lawsuit by one man and later settled two claims. Meehan was laicized in 2006.

Thomas Joseph O’Connor

• Settled
  

Four brothers filed suit in December 2003 against O’Connor and four other priests, alleging abuse between 1967 and 1983. One claim involving O’Connor was settled in 2008.

Richard O’Hearn

• Settled
  

One man settled with the Diocese of Springfield for $75,000 in November 2008 as part of a $4.5 million global settlement involving fifty-nine claimants. The man alleged abuse by O’Hearn at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Pittsfield.

Thomas F. O’Malley

• Settled
  

One claim involving O’Malley was resolved as part of the Diocese of Springfield’s $7.5 million settlement reached in 2004 addressing abuse claims against multiple clergy.

Joseph P. Quinlan

• Indicted
  

Quinlan was added to the Diocese of Springfield’s list of credibly accused clergy in November 2021. He died in 1989. The record reflects indictment but does not describe a final criminal disposition.

John Paul Richard

• Accused
  

Richard was publicly named as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. The diocese reports allegations of sexual abuse of a minor occurring between 1978 and 1980. Richard died on June 17, 1991, in Lake Park, Florida.

Ferdinand Roy

• Accused
  

Roy was named publicly as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. The alleged sexual abuse occurred between 1965 and 1968 while he was assigned to St. Aloysius Parish in Indian Orchard. Roy died in 1983.

John R. Russell

• Accused
  

A woman alleged that Russell sexually assaulted her while she was in high school. Russell left the Catholic priesthood in 1970 and later became a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.

Michael Sabotor

• Settled
  

At least one claim against Sabotor was included in the Diocese of Springfield’s November 2008 $4.5 million settlement with fifty-nine plaintiffs. No additional details are provided in the summary.

John J. Scanlon

• Settled
  

At least one claim involving Scanlon was included in the Diocese’s November 2008 $4.5 million settlement. Scanlon died in 1967.

Charles Joseph Sgueglia

• Accused
  

Sgueglia was ordained for the Augustinians (O.S.A.). He was removed from ministry in 2002 and ordered to live a life of prayer and penance. He died in 2005. He was later included on the Diocese of Springfield’s list of credibly accused clergy.

Donald D. Simonds

• Accused
  

Simonds was publicly named as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. He worked in the diocese from 1980–1983 and 1984–1997. He was removed from ministry in 2002. Multiple credible allegations describe sexual abuse of minors occurring between 1979 and 1983.

James A. Sipitkowski

• Accused
  

The diocesan vicar general testified that parishioners had reported Sipitkowski bringing young boys to the rectory late at night. The testimony indicated that no formal investigation was conducted at the time.

Charles J. Sullivan

• Accused
  

Sullivan served as Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs from 1975 to 1981, Director of the Catholic Charities Appeal from 1980 to 1984, and pastor of St. Matthew’s Parish in Indian Orchard from 1984 until his death in 2014. He was later accused of sexual abuse, though details of the allegation are limited in the summary.

Mary Jane Vidnansky

• Sued
  

A civil lawsuit alleged that Vidnansky, a nun, sexually abused a fourteen-year-old boy between 1974 and 1976. She left her religious order in the mid-1970s. The claim proceeded through civil litigation.

James T. Walsh

• Sued
  

A civil lawsuit alleged that Walsh sexually abused the plaintiff. At the time the suit was filed, the plaintiff was incarcerated for an unrelated murder. No criminal conviction related to the abuse allegation is noted in the summary.

Ronald E. Wamsher

• Settled
  

Four brothers complained in 2002 to the Diocese of Dallas that they were abused between 1967 and 1983 by five priests, including Wamsher. The Diocese removed Wamsher’s priestly privileges in 2005. Three claims were settled in 2008 as part of a $4.5 million agreement.

David P. Welch

• Settled
  

A man filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Monsignor Welch sexually abused him for three years in the early 1950s. Welch also served as executor of Bishop Weldon’s estate. The claim was resolved through settlement.

Richard Joseph Welch

• Accused
  

Welch was publicly named as accused by the Diocese of Springfield on June 2, 2021. The alleged sexual abuse occurred between 1948 and 1952 while he was assigned to Notre Dame Parish in Pittsfield. He was transferred to the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, in 1953 and died on December 31, 1969.

Christopher J. Weldon

• Settled
  

Weldon was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of eleven and sixteen. The Diocesan Review Board deemed credible an allegation that Weldon raped a boy in the early 1960s. The victim later sued, alleging Weldon was part of a group of priests who gang-raped altar boys. The claims were addressed through settlement.

Diocese of Worcester MA

Antonio F. Antonucci

• Acquitted
  

Active in a street ministry serving young children, Antonucci was charged with fondling a 15-year-old boy. The case proceeded through the court system, and in 1996 he was acquitted of the charge. No conviction or criminal penalty resulted from the proceedings, and the acquittal concluded the matter in court.

Brion T. Ares

• Accused
  

Criminal charges were filed alleging that Ares raped a 20-year-old man who sought him out for counseling. One charge ended in acquittal, while another resulted in a mistrial. The legal proceedings did not lead to a conviction, and the allegations remained unresolved following the mistrial.

John J. Bagley

• Sued
  

A complaint surfaced in 2002 when a man alleged abuse dating to 1967, when he was 17 years old, leading to Bagley being placed on leave. In 2004, a second individual filed a civil lawsuit raising similar allegations. The claims were addressed through civil litigation rather than criminal prosecution.

Henry S. Banach

• Settled
  

Multiple allegations emerged in 2002, beginning with a lawsuit filed by two brothers. Another man joined the action later that year, followed by a fourth individual who reported similar misconduct. The claims were resolved through settlement, concluding the civil actions brought against Banach.

Lee F. Bartlett

• Sued
  

Placed on leave in 2002, Bartlett was accused of abusing two boys during 1979 and 1980, including taking nude photographs and showing them pornographic movies. He resigned from his parish in 2003. The allegations proceeded through civil litigation rather than criminal court.

Robert F. Beaulac

• Sued
  

A former student alleged that Beaulac engaged in misconduct during the mid-1960s while the student attended Assumption Preparatory School. The claim described a relationship initiated by a priest during the period from 1965 to 1967. The matter was addressed through a civil lawsuit.

Andre M. Bernard

• Accused
  

Bernard served as an Air Force chaplain from 1975 until 1991. Allegations of misconduct later emerged, though no additional details regarding assignments, legal proceedings, or disciplinary outcomes were provided. He was not indexed or listed in necrology records through at least 2019.

David L. Blizard

• Sued
  

By 2002, multiple individuals had accused Blizard of abuse. He was found not guilty in court in 2004, and no criminal conviction followed. In 2012, involuntary laicization was granted, formally removing him from the clerical state after the civil and canonical processes concluded.

Gerard L. Branconnier

• Settled
  

An allegation arose that Branconnier sexually abused a 16-year-old boy in 1993. Years later, in 2006, he was removed from active ministry and stripped of faculties. The matter was resolved through settlement rather than criminal adjudication.

Richard J. Carelli

• Settled
  

Carelli was accused of sexually abusing a boy in 1964 while serving as headmaster of Sacred Heart Academy in Worcester. Three separate civil lawsuits were filed and subsequently settled out of court. All settlements were completed by February 2006.

Michael L. Carney

• Sued
  

Ordained as a monsignor, Carney died in 1981. A lawsuit filed in December 2004 accused him of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy during his assignment to St. Andrew the Apostle in Worcester in 1977 and 1978. The civil case remained pending as of 2006.

Joseph A. Coonan

• Accused
  

Beginning in the 1970s, Coonan was later accused by as many as 15 men of psychological manipulation and sexual abuse during their childhoods. He was placed on leave in 2002. Coonan denied the allegations, and the claims did not result in criminal convictions.

Chester J. Devlin

• Sued
  

A man alleged that Devlin sexually abused him during the 1980s while he was a student at Holy Name High School. The claim proceeded as a civil lawsuit. Criminal charges were not filed because the statute of limitations had expired.

Paul J. Doherty

• Accused
  

Ordained in 1995 at the age of 47, Doherty was placed on leave in 2006. The action followed his disclosure to Bishop McManus regarding inappropriate sexual behavior involving a minor during the 1970s. The matter did not proceed to criminal prosecution.

Lowe B. Dongor

• Guilty plea
  

Removed from his first assignment at St. Joseph’s in Fitchburg, Dongor admitted that his computer contained child pornography. He also acknowledged taking parish funds to send to family members in the Philippines. His admissions resulted in removal from ministry and criminal consequences.

Joseph Albert Fredette

• Convicted
  

After allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in 1974, Fredette fled to Canada. He was arrested in 1994, extradited to the United States, convicted, and sentenced to three concurrent prison terms of four to five years. The convictions concluded a case spanning two decades.

Jean-Paul Gagnon

• Settled
  

Evaluated in 1977 for possible sex role identification issues, Gagnon later faced a civil lawsuit filed in 2002. In 2005, he received an 18-month term of supervised probation after sexually assaulting an adult male parishioner in 2002. The civil claims were settled.

Timothy J. Harrington

• Sued
  

Harrington was accused of sexually abusing a boy between the ages of 11 and 15 on three occasions. A civil lawsuit advanced the allegations. Following review, the diocese determined there was no basis to establish the credibility of the claims.

David A. Holley

• Convicted
  

Originally ordained for the Benedictines, Holley was dispensed from the order in 1962. He later abused minors in multiple states and was transferred to the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas. Criminal proceedings resulted in convictions related to the abuse.

Peter J. Inzerillo

• Settled
  

Placed on leave in 1994, Inzerillo was reassigned in 2000 and again removed from ministry in 2002. He was later named in a RICO lawsuit in 2008. Laicization was formally announced in January 2018, ending his clerical status.

Norman R. Jalbert

• Accused
  

Serving as a guidance counselor at Holy Name Central Catholic Junior and Senior High School, Jalbert was accused of sexually assaulting at least two students. Reports suggested the number of affected students could be as high as six. The allegations did not culminate in criminal convictions.

Thaddeus J. Kardas

• Settled
  

A woman filed a lawsuit in 1993 alleging that Kardas referred to her as his girlfriend and kissed her in the rectory. The civil case was resolved through a settlement in 1995, with a payment of $55,000.

Thomas A. Kane

• Settled
  

Accusations surfaced that Kane sexually abused a boy between 1968 and 1979. The claim was settled in 1995. After leaving the diocese in 1993, he continued receiving financial support while working in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, as director of the Worldwide Teachers Institute.

Robert E. Kelley

• Convicted
  

Kelley was convicted in 1990 and again in 2003 for sexually abusing an estimated 50 to 100 girls. He served two separate prison terms, from 1990 to 1996 and from 2003 to 2008. In 1997, he was awarded $527,000 through legal proceedings.

Louis Laperle

• Acquitted
  

In 2003, a man alleged that Laperle molested him in 1968 while serving as a teacher or principal at Notre Dame Academy in Fitchburg. The case proceeded to trial, and in 2004 Laperle was acquitted of the charges.

Edward P. Lettic

• Accused
  

Following an allegation by a man who reported abuse occurring roughly 40 years earlier, Lettic was removed without privileges from Immaculate Conception Parish in Lancaster. The action limited his ministerial role while the allegation remained unresolved through criminal courts.

Thomas E. Mahoney

• Sued
  

Retired in 2012, Mahoney was named in a lawsuit filed in April 2020 alleging grooming and sexual harassment of a boy between 1971 and 1974. The complaint described alcohol use and attempted sexual assault. His faculties were removed following the filing.

Joseph M. Martin

• Sued
  

A man alleged that Martin raped him during the 1970s when he was a boy. The claim also asserted that the abbot of St. Benedict Abbey was aware of the allegation and initially offered assistance with medical expenses before withdrawing the offer. The matter proceeded as a civil suit.

Alan J. Martineau

• Accused
  

Martineau was placed on leave in January 2022 following an allegation of abuse. In December 2022, the claim was deemed credible. At the time referenced, he was assigned to St. Anne’s Parish in Shrewsbury.

Raymond P. Messier

• Sued
  

An allegation stated that Messier had inappropriate sexual contact with a 9-year-old boy in Worcester in 1980. He was transferred from a camp owned by his family. Messier later died in 2018 after being investigated by the Department of Social Services for recent allegations.

Edward Nicewicz

• Convicted
  

While serving as a chaplain at a state prison in Gardner, Massachusetts, Nicewicz was accused and convicted of child rape and molestation. He died on February 2, 2017, at the age of 88, following the completion of legal proceedings.

Brendan W. O’Donoghue

• Settled
  

Placed on leave in 1994 after a man filed a lawsuit citing two prior allegations, O’Donoghue faced civil litigation related to abuse claims. The case was resolved through a settlement in 1999, with a payment of $300,000.

Leo J. O’Neil

• Sued
  

In 1975, O’Neil was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy at the Stetson Home for Boys. The allegation proceeded through civil channels. O’Neil died in 2005 without criminal adjudication of the claim.

Raymond J. Page

• Sued
  

A lawsuit filed in 2005 accused Page of abuse by his nephew. Page had served as Vicar General of Worcester in 1983 and had received information about abuse by several priests. The complaint alleged that no action was taken in response to those disclosures.

Ronald D. Provost

• Convicted
  

After a pastor provided photographs to Auxiliary Bishop Harrington showing Provost taking nude photos of boys, Provost was sent to the House of Affirmation. He was later convicted of photographing a nude 10-year-old and received a 10-year suspended sentence.

Donald J. Rebokus

• Accused
  

In 2003, an adult man accused Rebokus of molesting him while he was a student at Holy Name High School. The allegation described abuse that occurred during the school years and reportedly ended after the student physically resisted Rebokus during a wrestling encounter. The matter did not proceed to criminal prosecution, and no court disposition was recorded.

Bernard R. Reilley

• Sued
  

A civil lawsuit filed in December 2004 alleged that Reilley sexually assaulted a female victim repeatedly during the 1950s, beginning when she was approximately two years old and continuing until age eight. Reilley died in 1990. The lawsuit remained pending as of February 15, 2006, and no criminal proceedings were undertaken.

George E. Rueger

• Sued
  

Rueger was sued in 2002 following allegations of sexual misconduct. After a diocesan investigation, the civil lawsuit was dropped in 2003 when no proof supporting the charges was found. The matter concluded without criminal charges, settlements, or disciplinary sanctions publicly documented beyond the dismissal of the suit.

Robert A. Shauris

• Settled
  

Shauris was one of three priests named in a confidential settlement reached in 1995 stemming from a 1993 lawsuit involving Thomas A. Kane and the Diocese of Worcester. He had previously been placed on leave in 1991, reportedly to allow him to work at a local college. The claims were resolved through settlement rather than litigation.

Justin Steponaitis

• Sued
  

A civil lawsuit filed in 1993 accused Steponaitis of sexually abusing an altar boy. The case proceeded through the court system for several years and was dismissed by 1997. No criminal charges or settlements resulted from the allegations, and the dismissal concluded the civil action.

John J. Szantyr

• Indicted
  

Ordained for the Marian order, Szantyr was dismissed in 1972, sent for treatment in Massachusetts in 1975, and prohibited from ministry in 1978. He later became a priest of the Diocese of Worcester in 1980. He was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and died in 2014.

Thomas H. Teczar

• Settled
  

Removed from the Diocese of Worcester in 1986 for sexually abusing boys, Teczar later became a visiting priest in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1990. He was convicted in 2007 of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in 1990. Earlier allegations connected to Worcester were resolved through settlement.

Gerard P. Walsh

• Settled
  

A man submitted a written confession to the Worcester County District Attorney detailing abuse by Walsh, who had been serving as a chaplain with the Massachusetts State Police. Walsh admitted to the abuse and resigned from ministry in 2003. The matter was addressed through settlement rather than criminal trial.

About Clergy Child Sexual Abuse

Clergy sexual abuse is any sexual misconduct that religious leaders commit against the members of their church, a serious issue highlighted by many sexual abuse scandals. It often involves the abuse of a minor, but it can happen to adults as well, within the Catholic church.

Child sexual abuse causes emotional and psychological trauma to the victims, often lasting for the rest of their lives. Children may not feel comfortable at a Catholic church or develop problems such as PTSD due to the sexual abuse.

Reporting Catholic Priests, Bishops, and other church officials, including church authorities, when there’s sexual abuse of a minor or adult, is essential to bringing them to justice and the child sexual abuse survivors getting the compensation they deserve.

We can help those who want to bring their abuser to justice navigate a legal process that involves reporting the abuse, hiring an attorney, gathering evidence, and then negotiating a settlement in or out of court.

Legal Support for Survivors of Abuse From Church Officials in Massachusetts

For those who’ve been abused or are the parents of someone who’s been abused by clergy members, Injury Lawyer Team is ready to help you fight for compensation, particularly against those actions taken by Catholic bishops.

We have experience working on child sexual abuse cases that will allow us to help you get the best settlement possible. Our expertise and compassion drive us not only to fight to hold the Catholic church abusers accountable but also to ensure you have the support and guidance you need along the way.

What Laws Govern Priest Abuse Lawsuits in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts has taken measures to protect children and other victims of sexual abuse, which includes actions by Catholic bishops. While it’s almost impossible to prevent it from happening, the laws and regulations they have in place are there to help them hold their abusers accountable and prevent them from harming others.

Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations

When someone wants to file criminal charges against a clergy member in the Roman Catholic archdiocese, the statute of limitations in Massachusetts is 35 years or seven years from the discovery of abuse, whichever is later.

Mandatory Reporting Laws

Mandatory reporting laws also exist. Mandated reporters are those in healthcare, religious sectors, education, and similar occupations. These individuals are required by law to make an oral report to the Department of Family and Child Services within 48 hours of suspecting abuse.

Age of Consent

In Massachusetts, the legal age of consent for sexual activity is 16, meaning anyone under that age is legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse or related sexual conduct. Sexual activity involving a person under 16 is prosecuted under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 265.23, which defines “rape and abuse of a child,” and consent is not a defense in these cases.

Massachusetts does not provide a “Romeo and Juliet” or close-in-age exception, so even voluntary sexual activity between teenagers or between a minor and a slightly older partner can result in criminal charges if one participant is under 16. Massachusetts law also recognizes a broad definition of prohibited conduct, including forms of sexual assault that do not require intercourse.

Canon Law

The Catholic Church governs its clergy through an internal legal system known as Canon Law, which outlines obligations, disciplinary procedures, and the Church’s response to allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual abuse. Although Canon Law has no legal force in Massachusetts courts, it plays an important role in how allegations of priest abuse are handled internally and can influence evidence, institutional behavior, and the availability of documents in civil litigation.

Canon Law defines sexual abuse of a minor as a grave violation under Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, which includes offenses “against the sixth commandment with a minor”. Under Church law, dioceses are required to initiate a preliminary investigation whenever an allegation is brought forward.

If the accusation has a “semblance of truth,” the case must be reported to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in Rome. Possible penalties include removal from ministry, restrictions on priestly functions, or dismissal from the clerical state (laicization). These canonical procedures operate separately from criminal prosecution, and the Vatican instructs dioceses to comply with applicable civil reporting laws.

In Massachusetts, however, the authority of Canon Law ends where state law begins. Massachusetts imposes mandatory reporting duties on priests. This civil obligation applies regardless of any parallel canonical investigation, with the only narrow exception being information obtained through a confession.

The Commonwealth’s civil and criminal statutes, not Canon Law, determine liability, reporting obligations, penalties, and a survivor’s right to compensation. Internal Church investigations do not limit criminal prosecution, civil lawsuits, or a survivor’s ability to obtain discovery. In many cases, records from canonical proceedings, such as personnel files, investigative reports, or communications with the Vatican, become significant evidence in Massachusetts litigation.

Filing a Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawsuit in Massachusetts

Whether you’re filing a lawsuit against the Diocese of Springfield, another diocese, or a specific clergy member, such as Cardinal Bernard Law, knowing how the process works in a child sexual abuse case will help make the process feel more manageable:

• Initial Attorney Consultation: After making your report to the police, you’ll want to hire a Massachusetts attorney with experience handling clergy abuse cases. This initial consultation will allow us to hear the details of your child sexual abuse case and create a plan to proceed.
• Evidence Gathering: Collect all the evidence you can to support your allegations of child sexual abuse. This may include medical or police reports. Make a list of witnesses in the Catholic church who may be willing to testify on your behalf. We can help you determine what else you need.
• Filing the Complaint: We officially file the lawsuit against any liable parties and institutions. This may include specific Catholic bishops who are accused of child sexual abuse, the Catholic church, and anyone else in the church hierarchy who may be liable.
• Discovery Process: Both parties will exchange information and evidence regarding the clergy abuse case. Dispositions may involve interviewing church officials, such as Roman Catholic priests who are accused of child sexual abuse.
• Settlement Negotiations or Trial: Your Massachusetts clergy abuse attorney will attempt to come to a fair settlement outside of the courtroom for your clergy sexual abuse case. If an agreement can’t be made, the case will proceed to trial.

Contact Injury Lawyer Team to pursue justice for the harm you’ve endured.

Support Resources for Survivors of Abuse From Catholic Priests and Religious Officials in Massachusetts

Massachusetts offers child sexual abuse survivors several resources, often highlighted by news media, to support them through the emotionally and legally complicated waters after suffering sexual abuse. Survivors have crisis hotlines, support groups, and specialized counseling services available to them through a variety of different organizations:

• Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA)
• Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (Jane Doe Inc.)
• Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP)

The Boston Archdiocese has an office of Pastoral Support and Outreach if survivors feel comfortable reporting the abuse to someone else within the Catholic clergy. It’s important to note that religious outreach centers and support networks are not usually part of the church hierarchy, and there are no known scandals involving them helping cover up widespread sexual abuse.

Notable Cases, Outcomes, and Cover-Ups in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is no stranger to serious cases of clergy abuse or child sexual abuse, which often come under public scrutiny. There have been numerous clergy members credibly accused of widespread sexual abuse throughout the state. All of these cases are important, but these are some of the most notable, and their outcomes, if applicable:

• Jesuit School: In 2003, Jesuit Priest James Talbot was accused of sexually abusing minors. The 14 individuals who came forward about the clergy sexual abuse were from two different Jesuit Schools: Cheverus High School in Maine and Boston College High School in Massachusetts. The 14 child sexual abuse survivors won a settlement of $5.2 million, and James Talbot was convicted of sexually abusing children and was removed from the clerical state in 2013, two years after his release from prison in Massachusetts. He was then transferred to Maine in 2018 and sentenced to two three-year sentences for child sexual abuse.
• Boston Archdiocese: The Archdiocese of Boston has two notable cases. One in 2002 and one in 2003. In 2002, there were over 80 individuals who reported an allegation of widespread sexual abuse against former Priest John J. Geoghan. The Boston Globe covered this widespread abuse, and the Archdiocese of Boston paid a settlement of $10 million. In 2003, they had 541 victims of clergy abuse, and they paid out a total of $84.1 million to the child sexual abuse survivors.
• Springfield Diocese: In 2008, members of the church sexually abused minors who filed a lawsuit. These 59 child sexual abuse survivors received $4.5 million in their settlement total. The Springfield Diocese has paid millions to child sexual abuse survivors over the years. Since 1992, this diocese has had several abusive priests, causing the diocese to pay out a total of $14,948,001 over 147 claims.

Our attorneys at Injury Lawyer Team have reviewed public and private settlement data related to Massachusetts clergy abuse settlements involving abusive priests. Depending on the details and specifics of your child sexual abuse case, the settlements can be valued between $400,000 and $950,000, especially in situations involving cover-ups. In cases of extreme sexual misconduct or if the case goes to trial, it can be upwards of $1 million.

Why Choose Injury Lawyer Team

Experience and knowledge of clergy abuse cases are vital when seeking an attorney, including understanding the role of Pope Benedict XVI in addressing such cases under Canon Law, but so is compassion.

The clergy abuse lawyers at Injury Lawyer Team have all these qualities and will help bring clergy members’ abuse to light. Our team understands the history behind these cases, including how Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger addressed these issues after becoming Pope Benedict XVI, and will use that in your case.

We understand the intricate laws in place in Massachusetts and how to navigate the complexities of church hierarchy and handle sensitive cases by providing the guidance and support you need.

When you’re ready to file a claim to hold clergy members accountable for their widespread sexual abuse, Injury Lawyer Team is ready to be your ally. We have ample experience with these types of cases and offer free consultations. Contact us today to speak with a sexual abuse lawyer.

Related Practice Areas

• Massachusetts Clergy Abuse Lawyer
• Boston Clergy Abuse Lawyer
• Cambridge Clergy Abuse Lawyer
• Lowell Clergy Abuse Lawyer
• Springfield Clergy Abuse Lawyer
• Worcester Clergy Abuse Lawyer

All content undergoes thorough legal review by experienced attorneys, including Jonathan Rosenfeld. With 25 years of experience in personal injury law and over 100 years of combined legal expertise within our team, we ensure that every article is legally accurate, compliant, and reflects current legal standards.