Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Raymond F. Kownacki

This page outlines the assignments, credible allegations of child sexual abuse, and institutional actions involving Fr. Raymond F. Kownacki, as part of the Injury Lawyer Team’s legal representation of survivors in Illinois clergy abuse cases.

Primary Entity Name: Raymond F. Kownacki
Common Variations / Aliases: Father Raymond Kownacki, Fr. Raymond Kownacki, Rev. Raymond Francis Kownacki
Role/Title at Time of Incident: Parish Priest, Pastor
Current Status: Deceased, laicized

Public Identification and Clergy Status

Fr. Raymond F. Kownacki was publicly identified as a credibly accused priest by multiple Church entities and public bodies, including:

Illinois Attorney General
Diocese of Belleville’s public disclosures

Public reporting and court records connected to civil litigation also describe extensive testimony about allegations of child sexual abuse and institutional concealment.

Entity that Listed Him: Diocese of Belleville, Illinois Attorney General
Reason for Listing: Multiple substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse, repeated reports across decades, removal from ministry, later laicization, and public documentation through civil litigation involving the Diocese of Belleville

Key Status Facts

Ordination Year: 1960
Years in Active Ministry: 1960 to 1995
Primary Diocese: Diocese of Belleville, Illinois
Locations Where He Served: Multiple counties in southern Illinois, including St. Clair County, Lawrence County, Marion County, and Monroe County
Reported Survivors: 9
Reported Abuse Periods and Locations:

1970 to 1973, Lawrence County, Illinois
1970 to 1973, St. Clair County, Illinois
1973 to 1982, Marion County, Illinois
1985 to 1987, Monroe County, Illinois
Unknown, Marion County, Illinois

Diocese Claim of First Report: 1972
Removal From Ministry: 1995
Public List Placement Date: October 18, 2018, Diocese of Belleville public list
Laicization: 2013
Died: 2022

Assignment History

Primary Archdiocese: Diocese of Belleville

Parish Assignments (as documented in public reports):

Saint Clare, O’Fallon, Illinois (1960 to 1967)
Saint Adalbert, East St. Louis, Illinois (1960)
Saint Joseph, Freeburg, Illinois (1964)
Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Francisville, Illinois (1970 to 1971)
Saint Martin of Tours, Washington Park, Illinois (1971 to 1973)
Saint Teresa of Avila, Salem, Illinois (1973 to 1982)
Saint Philomena, Kinmundy, Illinois (1973 to 1982)
Saint Joseph, Cobden, Illinois (1982 to 1983)
Saint Mary, Harrisburg, Illinois (1983 to 1984)
Saint Patrick, Tipton, Illinois (1985 to 1987)
Immaculate Conception, Madonnaville, Illinois (1985 to 1987)
Saint Mary, Valmeyer, Illinois (1985 to 1987)

No non-parish assignments are documented. However, parish assignments often involve working with families, children, and participating in programs at the church, putting him in contact with people of all ages.

Known Allegations

Publicly available materials describe allegations spanning many years, involving multiple survivors, and occurring in several counties and parish contexts.

One set of allegations, described in diocesan history materials and in civil filings, centers on a teenage girl who reported violent sexual assault and coercion connected to Fr. Kownacki’s role as a parish priest in the early 1970s.

Those accounts describe grooming through religious instruction, escalating sexual abuse, and exploitation of parish trust and authority. The diocesan history narrative further states that the girl reported the allegations to Church officials during a meeting in April 1973.

A separate set of allegations, detailed in the Diocese of Belleville history materials, involves a boy who testified that Fr. Kownacki sexually abused him repeatedly beginning in 1974 when the boy was around middle school age.

That account describes abuse occurring in multiple parish settings and church related locations, including rectory spaces and trips. The same materials describe the abuse continuing for years, with the survivor later filing a civil lawsuit in 2002, alleging that diocesan leadership knew of prior abuse concerns before assigning Fr. Kownacki to the parish where the abuse occurred.

The Diocese of Belleville’s history materials also describe additional reports reaching diocesan leadership in 1982 from the family of another teenage boy, including allegations that Fr. Kownacki had sexually abused that student.

Those materials describe an institutional response that emphasized secrecy, discouraging disclosure in the parish community, and producing confidential internal documentation concluding Fr. Kownacki posed a serious danger, followed by reassignment rather than removal.

Taken together, publicly described allegations portray patterns commonly identified in clergy abuse cases, including exploitation of religious authority, use of isolation and secrecy, manipulation of family trust, and institutional decision-making that prioritized avoiding scandal over immediate protective action.

Summary: Fr. Raymond F. Kownacki was accused of sexually abusing minors and was later removed from ministry, laicized, and publicly identified through official disclosures and investigative materials; credible allegations and reported abuse periods span multiple counties in southern Illinois, with documented institutional awareness as early as the early 1970s and repeated reassignment decisions before his 1995 removal.

Overseeing Authorities During Key Periods:

Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste, Diocese of Belleville
Bishop John N. Wurm, Diocese of Belleville
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, Diocese of Belleville
Bishop Edward K. Braxton, Diocese of Belleville

Institutional Actions and Review

Public materials describe a long arc of institutional responses, with repeated decision points across multiple bishops and diocesan leadership teams. The Archdiocese often reassigned or concealed the misconduct until Kownacki was publicly listed by the Archdiocese of Chicago in March 2006 as one of the accused IL priests; his inclusion in the Illinois Attorney General’s statewide clergy abuse report later made that disclosure unavoidable.

Diocesan history materials describe the diocese receiving severe allegations by 1973 and later receiving additional reports by 1982. Those materials describe diocesan leadership discouraging disclosure and treating the situation as an internal matter, even while producing confidential records acknowledging that Fr. Kownacki posed a serious risk. Despite the seriousness of the allegations described, the diocese continued to place him in parish roles for years after early reports.

By the mid-1990s, public reports indicate that the diocese removed Fr. Kownacki from active ministry. Later, civil litigation brought additional details into public view through discovery and testimony, including claims that internal reports were missing from personnel files and that diocesan decision-making had enabled continued access to minors over decades.

In 2008, a jury verdict in civil litigation resulted in a substantial monetary judgment against the Diocese of Belleville, based on findings described in the media as fraudulent concealment. Subsequent appellate proceedings left the judgment undisturbed, and a later report described the total payout increasing with interest.

Fr. Kownacki was laicized in 2013, a formal canonical action that ended his clerical status and removed his right to function publicly as a priest. Illinois Attorney General materials also record his death in 2022.

Timeline

1960- ordained as a priest
1960 to 1967- Saint Clare, O’Fallon, Illinois
1960- Saint Adalbert, East St. Louis, Illinois
1964- Saint Joseph, Freeburg, Illinois
1970 to 1971- Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Francisville, Illinois
1971 to 1973- Saint Martin of Tours, Washington Park, Illinois
1972- diocese’s claim of first report of abuse or inappropriate conduct
April 1973- diocesan history materials describe a leadership meeting with a teenage girl reporting rape and violent abuse
1973 to 1982- Saint Teresa of Avila, Salem, Illinois
1973 to 1982- Saint Philomena, Kinmundy, Illinois
1974- diocesan history materials describe the beginning of alleged repeated abuse of a boy at parish settings in Salem
1982- diocesan history materials describe a new report from another family and an internal response emphasizing secrecy, followed by reassignment
1982 to 1983- Saint Joseph, Cobden, Illinois
1983 to 1984- Saint Mary, Harrisburg, Illinois
1985 to 1987- Saint Patrick, Tipton, Illinois
1985 to 1987- Immaculate Conception, Madonnaville, Illinois
1985 to 1987- Saint Mary, Valmeyer, Illinois
1995- removed from ministry
2002- civil lawsuit filed by a survivor alleging diocesan knowledge and concealment
2008- jury verdict resulting in a multi-million dollar judgment connected to alleged concealment and reassignment practices
2011- appellate reporting describes the judgment being upheld
2013- laicized
October 18, 2018- placed on the Diocese of Belleville public list
2022- died

Speak With an Attorney

If you or someone you know was sexually abused by Fr. Raymond F. Kownacki or any Catholic clergy member in Illinois, you may still have legal options. The Injury Lawyer Team represents survivors of clergy abuse across the state.

Contact us to book a confidential consultation with an Illinois clergy abuse attorney. We are here to help you understand your rights and take legal action.

Sources

No criminal conviction is implied unless explicitly stated in public court records or official Church reports.

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.

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