Rev. Dozia J. Wilson– Assignment History

Summary of Case: Dozia J. Wilson was a priest of the Diocese of Albany, ordained in 1972. Early on he was an assistant parish priest in Albany, Diocesan Director of Urban Ministry and Chaplain at the La Salle School for Boys. In May 1976 Wilson was transferred to the Archdiocese of Boston, where he was Administrator of St. Joseph's in Roxbury until April 1979. He was moved to a Rochester NY parish for several months, to St. Ann's in Fort Ann for a short while, followed by a decade at St. Mary's in Hudson. While there he was Chaplain at the Columbia County jail and Columbia-Greene Community College.

Allegations against Wilson are first known to have surfaced in 1976, when some parents complained to the District Attorney that Wilson had sexually abused two boys at an Albany hotel. The diocese was given an ultimatum by the D.A.: either move the priest out of the area or he faces prosecution. Wilson was quietly moved to Boston. In 1997 a young man reported to Cardinal Law in a letter that Wilson sexually abused him over a two-year period, beginning in 1976, when he was a 15-year-old boy. The man said that Wilson had begun giving him alcohol and marijuana in Albany in 1973, and that he and his younger brother were taken by Wilson to Boston, where they lived with him in the rectory of St. Joseph's. The man filed a civil lawsuit which was settled in 2003. In another lawsuit, filed in 2004, Wilson was accused of the sexual abuse of a boy from 1980 to 1985, beginning when the boy was age 14. This accuser said he first met the the priest at St. Ann's at age 14, and considered him a father figure. Wilson allegedly would give the boy gifts and take him on trips, including to Boston and the West Coast, and abused him after plying him with alcohol and marijuana.

Records show that Wilson was sent for treatment in November 1978 and that, in May 1979, he asked the Bishop of Tulsa OK for permission to work in his diocese. Nothing came of that. In 1991 he was sent to a rehabilitation for the treatment of alcoholism, after which he was not reassigned. He resigned from ministry in 1993.

Wilson went on to work for ten years as a spiritual advisor at a residential treatment program for boys in Dobbs Ferry. He was fired in 2003 after being beaten up by an 18-year-old male he had picked up in Manhattan.

Ordained: May 13, 1972

May 1972

Diocese of Albany

Bishop was Edwin Bernard Broderick (1969-1976).

Albany

• In 1976 some Sacred Heart parents complained to District Attorney Sol Greenberg that Wilson "had sex with" with two boys at an Albany motel. Greenberg made a deal with Bishop Broderick that he would not prosecute if Wilson left the area.

2/3, 2/2

Albany

May 1976

Archdiocese of Boston

Archbishop was Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).

Roxbury

• WIlson was accused in a 2003 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy over a two-year period beginning in 1976, when the boy was age 15. Wilson brought the boy and his younger brother with him from Albany; the two boys lived with the priest in the rectory. According to the lawsuit, WIlson began giving the boy alcohol and marijuana in Albany in 1973. Wilson's accuser had reported the alleged abuse in a letter to Cardinal Law in August 1997. The suit was settled in 2003.

St. Joseph's had a school called St. Joseph's Community School.

Wilson was sent to the House of Affirmation for treatment in November 1978.

In a May 1979 letter, Wilson asked the bishop of Tulsa OK for permission to work in his diocese.

1979

Diocese of Rochester

Bishop was Matthew Harvey Clark (1979-2012).

Wilson is not listed in the 1980 Directory as at his previous or next assignments.

Per news reports Wilson was at a Rochester parish for three months.

1980

Diocese of Albany

Bishop was Howard James Hubbard (1977-2014).

Hudson

• Wilson was accused in a January 2004 lawsuit of having sexually abused a teenage boy 1980-1985. Wilson's accuser said he first met the the priest at St. Ann's at age 14, and considered him a father figure. Wilson allegedly would give the boy gifts and take him on trips, including to Boston and the West Coast, abusing him after plying him with alcohol and marijuana. His accuser also said he lived with Wilson for a short time during college in Hudson.

2/4, 3/4, 2/3, 1/2, 2/3, 4/4

In residence 1989-1990.

St. Mary's had a school until 1988 with 230-116 students.

Albany's Bishop Hubbard and Boston's Cardinal Law were accused in the lawsuit of covering up for Wilson and other pedophile priests, knowing of their predatory histories.

Wilson is not indexed beyond the 1996 Directory.

Wilson underwent treatment at an alcohol rehab center in 1991, after which he was not reassigned. Although the Directories continue to index him through 1996, he reportedly resigned from ministry in 1993.

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1973-1996).

• Link to Boston Documents regarding Wilson
• The Troy Record, downloaded February 15, 2003
• Excerpt from Brief filed in Ford v. Cardinal Law et al, July 21, 2003
• Suit Filed in Boston agaist Diocese, Albany Times Union, January 28, 2004
• Victim explains his relationship with Rev. Wilson, by Don Wilson, Post-Star, April 28, 2004
• Church Leaders Accused of Shielding Priest, Albany Times Union, April 29, 2004
• Another Claims Bishop Looked Away on Subject of Abusive Priest, by Robert Cristo, Troy Record, April 29, 2004
• Attorney Claims Diocese Refuses to Settle Abuse Case, Capital News 9, May 31, 2004
• Alleged Victims: Don't Forget Real Sex Scandal, Troy Record, June 25, 2004
• The 11 abuse cases the P-I examined, by Michelle Nicolosi and Claudia Rowe, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 19, 2004
• Accused priest took in minors, by Claudia Rowe and Michelle Nicolosi, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 19, 2004
• Judge Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit, Capital News 9, September 21, 2004
• Diocese Seeks Venue Change, by Michele Morgan Bolton, Albany Times Union, September 24, 2004
• Court Refuses to Move, Dismiss Abuse Case against Priest, by Robert Cristo, Troy Record, October 5, 2004
• Diocese Urges Rejection of Suit, by Michele Morgan Bolton, Albany Times Union, November 17, 2004
• The missing names from Cardinal O'Malley's list of accused clerics, Boston Globe, November 20, 2011 


Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Wilson's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on July 3, 1980.