The Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, has been plagued with allegations of child sexual abuse by some of its priests. In Western Kentucky, the Diocese of Owensboro covers 32 counties and serves more than 50,000 Catholics. In April 2019, the Diocese listed ordained priests who have been accused of child sexual abuse while assigned to the Diocese.
Joseph Pilger was a former priest who served in several different Kentucky dioceses throughout his career. He is known as one of the worst predator priests due to the sheer number of boys he’s accused of molesting throughout his priesthood. In 2003, the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, was ordered to pay a settlement of $5.2 million to at least 27 of Pilger’s alleged victims.
Later that year, after a father discovered Pilger masturbating to photographs of the man’s six-year-old son, the man murdered Pilger in his own home with a pickaxe. According to the man who killed Pilger, Pilger also offered him $5,000 to let Pilger have sex with the man’s son.
Court documents in lawsuits against the Catholic Church revealed that the Church sent Pilger to New Mexico to treat his pedophilia during Pilger’s tenure. Still, the Church later reinstated him as a priest and sent him to the Owensboro Diocese, where he continued molesting boys for years.
In 2019, a victim accused Joseph Edward Bradley of sexually abusing him in the 1980s when Bradley served as principal of Owensboro Catholic High School. Bradley was a popular priest and the former unofficial chaplain of Coach Rick Pitino’s University of Louisville basketball team. The Diocese suspended Bradley when the allegations surfaced. Bradley was already retired at the time of his suspension but still served as a volunteer chaplain at Owensboro Catholic High School.
Later in 2019, Owensboro Diocese Bishop William F. Medley recommended that Bradley be permanently suspended from the priesthood, finding that the allegations were credible and had been formally substantiated. In April 2021, however, the Vatican announced that Bradley was being reinstated as a priest, with the condition that he not be allowed to enter schools for five years. The Vatican found that Bradley had engaged in “imprudent behavior.” Bradley maintains that he’s innocent, and local officials declined to pursue criminal charges against him, citing a lack of evidence to support the allegations.
Kentucky has taken steps to help victims of child sexual abuse seek justice. In March 2021, the Kentucky Senate Panel advanced HB 472, which would extend the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims from five to ten years after the victim turns 18 years old. Because child sex abuse victims often suppress memories of the abuse or don’t come forward until later in life, extending statutes of limitations can be vital for victims. However, it’s crucial to understand your legal rights to be able to bring a claim within the time allowed.
If someone sexually abused you or a loved one while at the Diocese of Owensboro, contact our legal team at Herman Law today to understand how we can help you pursue a civil claim for compensation and seek justice. We offer free case evaluations so that we can better understand what happened and how we can best help you.
- Br. Joseph J. Alexander
- Fr. Gerald H. Baker
- Fr. Freddie Byrd
- Fr. Delma Clemons
- Fr. Walter A. Hancock
- Fr. J. Gilbert Henninger
- Fr. John R. Meredith
- Fr. Joseph J. Pilger
- Fr. Louis Francis Piskula
- Fr. Richard M. Powers
- Fr. John Speaks
- Fr. Robert Carroll Wheatley
- Fr. Henry Wieder
- Fr. Joseph Robert Willett