Another Name Added to Diocese of Dallas’ List of Accused Priests

By Lisa Kendzior, Paul Petersen, Zach Hiner
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
July 3, 2019

https://bit.ly/2LB82yE

The Diocese of Dallas has added another name to its list of clerics accused of child sexual abuse. We call on church officials in Dallas to explain two key facts to the public about this case: first, when did the accusations against Fr. Peter Barusseau surface, and when were they deemed “credible” by church officials?

The list put out by Dallas church officials in January was already woefully incomplete as it left off key details such as the work histories of the accused priests, when the allegations against them were received, and what church officials did in response to those allegations. Such information is critical to understanding what went wrong in the past, who was involved in the wrongdoing, and what must be done to prevent cases of abuse in the future.

Given that the Diocese of Dallas has only done the bare minimum when it comes to keeping communities informed about abusive priests, the news about Fr. Barusseau has us concerned that there are other accused priests that have been left off this list. Considering that the Diocese of Dallas was raided by police in May, it would appear that the Dallas Police Department shares our concerns.

We hope that parishioners and the public in Dallas will push Bishop Edward Burns and other church officials to live up to their promise to be “open and transparent” in cases of clergy sex abuse and update their list of priests with this crucial information. They should also press the Diocese to explain more about the timing and details of the Barusseau case.