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1 800 686 9921Order: OSF
Status: Settled
Died: 11/19/2019
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Brother Antonio F. Antonucci was a Franciscan brother connected to parishes in both the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York. In 1993, Antonucci was criminally charged with indecent assault and battery in connection with allegations of sexual abuse within the Worcester Diocese. He was subsequently found not guilty.
Ordained: 1987
Status: Accused
Died: 12/21/1998
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Brion T. Ares was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1987. He served at St. Mary’s in North Grafton from 1987 to 1988, St. Luke the Evangelist in Westborough from 1988 to 1991, and Our Lady Immaculate in Athol from 1991 to 1994, where he also served the mission parish of Our Lady Queen of Heaven in South Royalston.
Ordained: 1948
Status: Settled
Died: 1/24/2023
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In October 2002, two brothers filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Father Banach had sexually assaulted them as altar boys at St. Hedwig Parish between 1982 and 1988. Shortly after the suit was filed, a third man joined the lawsuit with similar allegations. A fourth individual also came forward to report that he had experienced similar abuse as an altar boy at St. Hedwig, though he chose not to join the lawsuit.
Order: AA
Status: Sued
Died: 11/17/2000
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Brother Robert F. Beaulac served on staff at Assumption Preparatory School in the Diocese of Worcester, MA, during the 1960s. He was later accused of sexually abusing a minor while working at the school.
Ordained: 1953
Status: Settled
Died: 12/9/2000
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In April 2003, Carelli was accused of sexually abusing a boy in 1964 while serving as headmaster of Sacred Heart Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts. According to the allegations, the abuse occurred inside the principal’s office where Father Richard J. Carelli would summon the student. The accuser further reported that he was held back academically despite failing only one subject, claiming this action followed his refusal of Father Richard J. Carelli’s advances.
Ordained: 1935
Status: Sued
Died: 6/5/1981
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In December 2004, a lawsuit was filed accusing Father Michael L. Carney of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in 1977 and 1978. At the time of the alleged abuse, Father Michael L. Carney was at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Worcester. The civil complaint detailed incidents that allegedly occurred while Father Michael L. Carney was assigned to St. Andrew the Apostle Parish.
Ordained: 1989
Status: Accused
Died: 10/7/2011
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Joseph A. Coonan served in the Diocese of Worcester, MA, and was accused by multiple men of psychologically manipulating and sexually abusing them when they were boys in the 1970s. Many of these allegations predated his ordination, occurring while he worked as a teacher at Oxford High School and as a camp counselor in Oxford. According to reports, the alleged abuse often involved psychological manipulation, coercion, and in some instances, sexual contact.
Ordained: 1971
Status: Sued
Died: 7/7/2017
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Chester J. Devlin was a Catholic priest ordained in 1971 who served within the Diocese of Worcester in Massachusetts. In April 2002, he was removed from his parish assignment at St. Bernadette in Northboro and from his role as director of the diocese’s Respect Life Office following an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor dating back to the 1980s. During the 1980s, Devlin also served as headmaster at private Catholic schools within the diocese.
Ordained: 1995
Status: Accused
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Paul J. Doherty was ordained in 1995 at age 47 for the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts. In November 2006, Doherty was placed on administrative leave after he informed Bishop Robert J. McManus that he had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor more than 30 years prior — conduct that occurred long before his ordination.
Ordained: 2010
Status: Guilty plea
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Lowe B. Dongor was ordained in June 2010 and served as an associate pastor in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, including at St. Joseph’s Parish in Fitchburg. In 2011, Dongor was removed from ministry after police were alerted to child pornography found on his personal laptop computer; he also admitted to stealing from parish funds. Dongor fled to the Philippines before a scheduled court appearance in October 2011, and a default warrant was issued for his arrest. In December 2012, he surrendered to federal authorities and was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court on charges of child pornography possession and larceny. He was subsequently dismissed from the priesthood by the Vatican.
Order: AA
Ordained: 1960
Status: Convicted
Died: 6/13/2010
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In 1974, Fredette fled to Canada following allegations that he had sexually abused two to three boys, including claims of rape, at the halfway house. He was indicted by a Worcester County grand jury in 1992. Fredette was arrested in 1994 and extradited from Canada to face criminal charges in Massachusetts. Separately, a civil suit had been filed in 1993 in New Hampshire by another individual alleging sexual abuse by Fredette; that matter was settled for $100,000 in October 1994.
Ordained: 1946
Status: Sued
Died: 3/23/1997
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Bishop Timothy J. Harrington served in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, until his retirement in 1994 and death in 1997. On March 29, 2005, a civil lawsuit was filed alleging that he sexually abused a boy between the ages of 11 and 15 on three separate occasions. The alleged abuse included genital fondling, anal penetration, and oral copulation. In response to these allegations, the Diocese reviewed its records and stated that it “found no basis of credibility to the claims.” This particular claim was not included in the $4.5 million settlement the Diocese reached in November 2008.
Ordained: 1958
Status: Convicted
Died: 11/25/2008
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father David A. Holley was ordained in 1958 for the Benedictines but was “dispensed” from the order in 1962 and became a diocesan priest in Worcester, Massachusetts. Holley sexually abused children in multiple states, including Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas, and others. The Diocese of Worcester sent Holley to the Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, for treatment, yet abuse continued across multiple dioceses. He was convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing eight boys in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and received a sentence of 275 years in prison, dying in prison on November 25, 2008.
Ordained: 1963
Status: Accused
Died: 5/4/1994
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Norman R. Jalbert served as a guidance counselor at Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School from 1971 to 1984. Allegations against him emerged in 2003, with at least two individuals publicly accusing him of sexual assault and reports suggesting as many as six victims may have come forward. Some of the alleged sexual assaults took place at a camp that Jalbert owned in Spencer, Massachusetts.
Ordained: 1969
Status: Settled
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Thomas A. Kane was accused in a 1993 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy over an extended period from 1968 to 1979, beginning when the victim was just nine years old. Allegations stated that Kane offered the boy to other priests for sexual abuse, compounding the severity of his misconduct. Kane had a long history within the diocese and was closely associated with Revs. Thomas Teczar and Victor Frobas, reflecting connections that may have influenced his access to victims.
Ordained: 1970
Status: Settled
Died: 8/24/2006
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Thaddeus J. Kardas, a priest of the Diocese of Worcester, was accused in 1993 of sexually abusing a young girl beginning when she was 11 years old. According to the allegation, he referred to her as his girlfriend, kissed her in the rectory, and repeatedly attempted to caress her over the course of approximately a year. Kardas was in his mid-twenties at the time. Notably, this complaint was not the first — documentation indicates that another individual had raised concerns about Kardas’s conduct prior to the 1993 allegation.
Ordained: 1968
Status: Convicted
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Robert E. Kelley served as a priest in the Diocese of Worcester from 1968 until he was removed from active ministry in the mid-1980s. During his assignments at Notre Dame Parish in Southbridge, St. Boniface Parish in Lunenburg, St. Cecilia’s Parish in Leominster, and Sacred Heart Parish in Gardner, he committed documented acts of sexual abuse against girls across all four locations. In a sworn civil deposition, Kelley admitted to sexually abusing between 50 and 100 girls during his time at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Leominster alone, and acknowledged additional victims at other parishes throughout his ministry.
Order: SC
Status: Acquitted
Died: 10/7/2021
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Brother Louis Laperle, also known as “Brother Philip,” was a member of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart (SC) who served as a teacher and/or principal at Notre Dame Academy in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a school within the Diocese of Worcester. In 2003, a man came forward alleging that Laperle had molested him in 1968 when the individual was a student at the school. At the time of the alleged abuse, Laperle held a position of educational authority over students at the school.
Ordained: 1973
Status: Accused
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Edward P. Lettic was ordained in 1973 and served within the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts. On January 26, 2014, he was removed from Immaculate Conception Parish in Lancaster and relieved of his priestly faculties after a man alleged that Father Lettic had sexually abused him as a boy approximately 40 years earlier. The allegation was deemed credible by diocesan authorities.
Status: Sued
Died: 12/29/2013
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In 2017, a man reported to the Order that Brother Martin had raped him as a boy during the 1970s. In July 2018, the man filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Abbot Francis X. Connelly knew Brother Martin had admitted the abuse to police in 2013 but did not inform the survivor of that admission. According to the complaint, a monsignor in California contacted law enforcement after the survivor confided in him.
Ordained: 2018
Status: Guilty plea
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In January 2022, he was placed on administrative leave following an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. In December 2022, following an independent investigation and a recommendation by the Diocesan Review Committee, Bishop Robert J. McManus determined that the allegation was credible under the Diocese’s internal standards. In February 2023, Father Martineau was criminally charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person aged 14 or older.
Ordained: 1968
Status: Sued
Died: 7/3/2018
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Raymond P. Messier served in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, and allegations of sexual abuse emerged involving a nine-year-old boy in the early 1980s. According to the boy’s mother, the alleged incident occurred at a camp in Charlton owned by the priest’s family. After learning of the allegations, the mother reported the abuse to a Worcester police officer, who she said declined to act, and later sought a meeting with then-Bishop Timothy J. Harrington and her son’s therapist. At that meeting, the bishop reportedly assured her that Father Messier would not be placed in a position with access to children and would receive treatment. The mother did not learn until 2002 that Father Messier had continued to serve as pastor of two parishes in the Diocese, and a civil lawsuit was subsequently filed.
Ordained: 1962
Status: Convicted
Died: 2/2/2017
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Edward Nicewicz was ordained a priest in 1962 and served in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, until 1986. His assignments included serving as a chaplain at a state prison in Gardner. In 1985, he was accused of sexually abusing two girls from Sutton, ages 11 and 12. These accusations led to criminal proceedings, and in 1986, Nicewicz pled guilty to charges of indecent assault and rape and received a jail sentence. His ministry in the Diocese of Worcester ended that same year. He died on February 2, 2017, at the age of 88.
Ordained: 1950
Status: Settled
Died: 8/26/2014
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Brendan W. O’Donoghue served within the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, where a pattern of frequent transfers and multiple sexual abuse allegations spanned his decades-long ministry. O’Donoghue was transferred twelve times in his first fifteen years as a priest — an extraordinary rate of movement that raises serious questions about what the diocese knew and when it chose to act. He retired from active parish ministry in 1984 but was placed on administrative leave in 1994, after a man filed suit alleging that O’Donoghue had sexually assaulted him at age thirteen in 1978.
Ordained: 1956
Status: Sued
Died: 2/26/2005
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Leo J. O’Neil served in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts. He was named in a 2004 civil lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused a 14-year-old boy who was living at the Stetson Home for Boys in Barre in 1975. At the time, Father O’Neil was assigned to St. Joseph Church in Barre. The lawsuit was filed after he had retired from active ministry. Father O’Neil passed away in February 2005; the civil case was set for jury trial in November 2006.
Ordained: 1946
Status: Sued
Died: 10/30/1998
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Monsignor Raymond J. Page was originally ordained for the Diocese of Springfield in 1946, before the Diocese of Worcester was established. In a 2005 lawsuit, his nephew alleged that Page sexually abused him beginning at approximately age ten, with the abuse continuing throughout the 1950s.
Ordained: 1970
Status: Convicted
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Ronald D. Provost was a priest within the Diocese of Worcester whose sexual abuse misconduct has been documented across several decades. Beginning as early as 1977, he took and collected nude and semi-nude photographs of boys. When these actions came to the attention of diocesan leadership in the early 1980s, Provost was sent to the House of Affirmation for evaluation and treatment. Despite this intervention, further allegations emerged — including a civil lawsuit filed in 2010 alleging sexual assault and abuse spanning from approximately 1979 to 1982.
Ordained: 1957
Status: Accused
Died: 3/21/1983
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In January 2003, a former student came forward with allegations that Rebokus sexually abused him over a period of years — beginning at Holy Name High School in the mid-1970s and continuing after Rebokus’s subsequent assignment to St. Mary’s parish in Uxbridge. According to the accuser, the misconduct began while Rebokus was serving as headmaster at Holy Name. The alleged abuse reportedly involved a pattern of wrestling, showers, and escalating sexual contact that was non-consensual and forced.
Ordained: 1954
Status: Sued
Died: 8/30/1990
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Father Bernard R. Reilley served within the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has been alleged to have committed the sexual abuse of a young child. In December 2004, a woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Reilley sexually assaulted her for several years during the 1950s, beginning when she was two years old and continuing until she was eight.
Ordained: 1958
Status: Sued
Died: 4/6/2019
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
Bishop George E. Rueger was ordained in 1958 and served within the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in 1987 and served in that role until his retirement in 2005. In July 2002, a civil lawsuit was filed alleging that Rueger had sexually abused a boy between the ages of 13 and 14 during the early 1960s. Rueger denied the allegation. The plaintiff withdrew the suit in November 2003 under disputed circumstances; his former attorney publicly alleged that a state police officer had pressured the dismissal, while the district attorney disputed that characterization and confirmed that his office’s criminal investigation into the allegations remained ongoing. The dismissal did not constitute a judicial finding on the merits of the allegation.
Ordained: 1937
Status: Sued
Died: 11/29/1994
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In January 1993, a civil lawsuit filed in Worcester Superior Court accused Father Steponaitis of sexually assaulting an altar boy at St. Francis of Assisi Church between 1971 and 1976. The complaint further alleged that he molested numerous other young parish children during his time at the parish. Father Steponaitis categorically denied all allegations, and the diocese also denied any wrongdoing. Father Steponaitis died in 1995. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
Ordained: 1957
Status: Indicted
Died: 5/16/2014
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In August 2002, a survivor’s family publicly alleged that Father Szantyr had sexually abused a child during the mid-to-late 1980s while he was assigned to Our Lady of Czestochowa. The family had previously reported the matter to Worcester police, but criminal charges were not pursued at that time. In June 2003, Father Szantyr was charged with four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, stemming from allegations that he sexually assaulted two altar boys in the 1980s. A civil lawsuit was filed in January 2005.
Ordained: 1967
Status: Settled
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In 2007, Teczar was convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in Texas in 1990. That conviction was overturned on appeal, but a retrial in 2009 resulted in a second conviction. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. The survivor testified that Teczar had shown him pornography and provided alcohol and marijuana before the abuse.
Ordained: 1974
Status: Settled
Died: 3/8/2021
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA
In December 1998, a then-37-year-old man wrote to the Diocese of Worcester describing alleged sexual abuse by Father Walsh that he said had begun in the late 1970s, when he was an altar boy at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster. The alleged abuse included inappropriate touching and exposure to sexually graphic materials. Father Walsh was also accused of providing alcohol to the individual while he was a minor. According to the accuser, the diocese did not take meaningful action in response to his letter.
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