Predator Priest Who Worked in Milwaukee to Be Early Released on Legal Technicality; Victims Fear He Still Poses Danger

SNAP Wisconsin
May 5, 2012

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Donald Buzanowski, sentenced to 32 years in 2005 for child sex abuse acts in the 1980's has admitted to sexually assaulting at least 14 boys

Survivors to flier congregation where Buzanowski lived in 1990's

WHERE

St. Pius X Parish, 2506 Wauwatosa Avenue, Wauwatosa

WHEN

­Sunday May 6, fliering will begin after the 10:00 a.m. Mass (approximately 11 a.m.)

WHAT

Wisconsin leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, will be joined by David Schauer, a victim of childhood sexual assault by Green Bay priest Fr. Donald Buzanowski, who will flier the St. Pius Congregation following morning Mass. Survivors will alert parishioners to the release of Buzanowski who lived and likely ministered at the church after being secretly transferred from the Green Bay diocese in the early 1990's. Buzanowski continued to live and work with youth in Milwaukee until his arrest in 2005 in various social service agencies.

Buzanowski was sentenced to 32 years following his conviction in 2005 on two felony counts of child sexual assault.

On Friday a joint motion was submitted and agreed to by Judge William Atkinson that will release Buzanowski from prison as early as next week. The motion was accepted by the prosecutor in the Buzanowski case due to the discovery of a legal technicality in the state's dated child sex abuse laws. The judge, however, upheld Buzanowski's sexual assault conviction from 2005 and the defrocked priest will remain on probation for at least the next eight years and is expected to be placed in a supervised group home. Buzanowski will also remain on the state's sex offender registry.

In a 2002 letter written by Buzanowski and obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Buzanowski admits to sexually assaulting at least 14 boys. Buzanowski was placed on leave from the Green Bay diocese in 1989 after working in several parishes but was not laicized or defrocked until after his arrest in 2005. In the meantime, Buzanowski worked as a youth counselor in Milwaukee County. He was also convicted at one time on federal charges for possession of child pornography.

According to the last available data in 2004, Buzanowski is one of 51 clergy sex offenders identified in a national study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to have sexually assaulted children in the Green Bay diocese over several decades. This number includes over a dozen Norbertine priests who have worked in the diocese. Last year, court depositions of Green Bay's top church officials also revealed that the diocese appears to have destroyed most of the possible criminal evidence contained in their secret abusive priest files.

Schauer, the victim in the case, spoke with Buzanowski for a half an hour before the court hearing and will discuss his interaction as well as urge other victims of the priest to come forward.

Peter Isely

SNAP Midwest Director

414-429-7259

John Pilmaier

SNAP Wisconsin Director

414-336-8575

David Schauer

Survivor and Victim Advocate

623-210-5693

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We've been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Visit us at SNAPnetwork.org and SNAPwisconsin.com.