"Father Woody," Buffalo Native and Priest of Denver's Poor, Named As Child Sex Abuser

By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News
December 9, 2020

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/father-woody-buffalo-native-and-priest-of-denvers-poor-named-as-child-sex-abuser/article_dee5c430-3a3d-11eb-89bc-47f326ee08d4.html

A Buffalo native who served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Denver for 38 years and was revered for his work with the poor is among 25 priests identified in a recent Colorado State Attorney General’s Office report as having substantiated claims of child sex abuse against them.

Monsignor Charles B. Woodrich, a 1941 graduate of Technical High School in Buffalo, is accused of molesting three boys during his time in Denver, where he was hailed for many years as a champion of the poor.

Woodrich founded the Samaritan House homeless shelter in Denver and drew national attention in the 1960s when he persuaded President Lyndon B. Johnson to fund school lunches for the poor. Woodrich was widely known as “Father Woody.” He died in 1991 at age 68.